Operation: Philadelphia
by milkduds100
Summary: The US Government sends a Navy SEAL into a newly discovered world to recover lost equipment and weapons, and to explore this new world. This is going to be one of the most interesting missions for Commander Riptide, Sniper for SEAL Team 10.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Summery**: _What if the strange phenomena that connects Earth with Halkeginia was not unknown to the US Military? What if they found a way to connect the 2 areas, if only for enough time to go through? So the US Government decides to send in a single Special Operations soldier in order to Recon the area and report any information he finds. Commander Riptide, a member of SEAL Team 10 is about to be sent on the most classified mission in United States History._

Well, I had the idea when watching episode 6 and after years of not writing I decided to try it out again. I really like the idea of Familiar of Zero, how it combines our world with a fantasy world and like how our technology is misunderstood by them. Now that I am a high School Graduate I decided to take another crack at it. If anyone has read my other stories (Please don't) they will know that at the time I was horrible at writing. I tried to do too many things, got to complicated (I was going for an MGS kind of feel) and just did not do very good at all. I'm just going to try something simple and easy, not a new and original master piece but a fun and enjoyable story.

**(Important) **BTW, Romance is not my strong suite but if anyone wants it in the story leave a comment saying yes and who with. My Character is 24 years old so as long as it is in the age range it will be OK. The lowest I will accept is Henrietta (I think 17 right?). Anyone younger than 17 is off limits.

Lastly, this will start during Season 1. I have not seen any of the other Seasons so for the moment I'm sticking with Season 1. I can't find the other Seasons so if someone can give me a link to see them (Sub is acceptable but English Dub is more preferable).

Guess that's it, please give me feedback and I might accept special requests if anyone wants to.

I do not own anything other than my own characters. Everything else is owned by the companies that make this Anime.

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

Ever been in the SDV (SEAL Delivery Vehicle)? Surrounded by water, in a tight and cramped space hoping to God that your air supply doesn't malfunction. That's what this feels like. Stuck in a space so small that you can't move an inch before hitting the wall. At least there is no water in here so that is a plus.

Guess I should start with who I am, my name is... well, I can't tell you, but my code name is Commander Riptide of the United States Navy Seals. For the past 7 years I have been a part of the US Navy, joined at 17 and was accepted into the SEALs. I've been deployed all over the world from Nigeria to Afghanistan and have done a lot of things most people would never dream of.

But that is irrelevant right now, all I can focus on now is trying to ignore the stiff pain in my joints for being in the same position for about 25 hours. Didn't even get to sleep that whole time. I am laying on my back with straps all over my torso keeping me still. Right in my face are a bunch of monitors, I can't say what they do unfortunately but they do help out a lot. I am wearing a pressurized G suit with a kinetic helmet and oxygen mask that is connected to the helmet so no air leaks from the suit. On my back and my front is a parachute, 1 is my primary and the one on my front is my secondary. Tied to my belt and hanging down to my knees on both my front and back are 2 of my rucksacks. Each one has my medical gear, radio, MREs (Meal Ready to Eat), water and other tools I'll need for survival.

"Approaching Atmosphere at Mock 5, prepare for release" The Radio on my left spoke. "Prepare equipment check and arm main parachute" I did so for the thousandth time and was sure I was ready. "Status, over?" The radio asked.

"Parachute status green." I said. "Oxygen status green, over." The pod began to shake, at first it was not so bad but it began to get violent.

"aligning heat shield" Yea, without that the landing craft would burn up in seconds. "Activate cooling system" After it said that it began to get really hot. I flipped a switch and cold air from liquid nitrogen canisters began to cool me down. I don't have to worry about freezing because the liquid nitrogen heats up enough to be around -3 degrees Fahrenheit by the time it hits me.

Suddenly though it stops and the small pod begins to get very hot again. This is not good "Warning, cooling system failed" The radio said again. If I don't do something fast I'm a dead man.

Ok, calm down, control your heart beat, panic gets people killed. I'm prepared for this situation thanks to endless hours in the simulator. I break open the hatch on my left where the liquid nitrogen tanks are. I begin to turn some of the nozzles to see if it will start up again. It would be so much easier if there wasn't so much smoke in the air, wait, smoke?

Damn, my legs are on fire. Luckily the G suit is not flammable and protects me from the heat of the fire. What is on fire is the electronics around my legs. Deep breath, calm down and figure this out. If I don't do something fast I'm dead, I can already feel my skin starting to burn. It's like when you put your foot on a drive way after hours in the sun.

My last strategy is more archaic, I rip the hoses off the tanks and the nitrogen instantly turns into a gas and begins cooling down the pod. The fire is put out and everything seems ok now.

"Approaching drop point, prepare the release" Oh God I hate this part. Not many people know this but I am terrified of heights. Even though I have done HALO jumps and HA HO jumps, even going to the top of a water slide scares the shit out of me. "Releasing in 5..."

Oh God this will suck.

"4..."

I grab the release.

"3..."

I take another deep breath.

"2..."

I close my eyes.

"1... Release"

I pull the release and instantly the part that I'm laying on opens and I fall backwards. Instinct kicking in, I undo the straps on my chest and am released from the pod. I spin my body so that my face is facing down, and all I see is nothing but black.

_Flashback_

_Months earlier I am sitting in the briefing room of the SS Normandy aircraft carrier waiting for my next mission. I was told that it would be a solo mission and its to be top secret. Not even my team will know what's going on. _

_I hear the door open and in walks my CO Captain Jim Walker. "Good to see your up commander." He said as I stood up and gave him a solute. He returned it and said at ease. I sat down and he went over the mission. While he did I noticed some more people come in._

_"This mission is top secret, you are not to share this with anyone who does not have the proper clearance, understood?" He said._

_"Hooyah Captain." I said._

_"Good." Walker said. "For the past 40 years we have been getting strange disturbances all over the world, people gone missing, electromagnetic jumps and strange lights and sightings." I was wondering where this was going._

_"What do you mean sir?" I asked._

_"Why don't I let Jason explain it." He said, "Jason is one of our top scientists in the study of dark matter." A guy in a gray suit walked up to me._

_"How are you sir?" He asks._

_"With all due respect Jason, can we just get on with the briefing." I said._

_"Sure, what do you know about Dark Matter?" He asked. I may not be the smartest man around but I knew some things._

_"Dark matter is an invisible type of matter that makes up 90% of the Universe, right?" I replied._

_"Well new information proves that theory wrong." He said. "3 years ago we launched a satellite in space. We were testing the idea of a electron accelerator that would be a much better alternative to fossil fuels for rockets. What we found was extraordinary. While colliding the particles to achieve thrust the satellite blinked into another dimension." I just looked at him confused._

_"What do you mean?" I asked.  
_

_"Dark Matter is not some kind of new and undiscovered matter, it is the echos, or the ripples of matter from other universes. Like seeing the shadow of another universe. This discovery allowed us to find a universe that is literally inches from our own." Ok, I'm lost._

_"What? What do you mean inches?"_

_"Imagine if you will, 2 sheets of paper." Jason said as he held them up."Imagine this is our universe," He held one paper, "And this is the second." He held the other. "Both are parallel to each other, and can not connect together. But as they begin to move and ripple some of the parts of the sheet begin to touch. This causes a temporary connection between the universes." He waved the papers to demonstrate this._

_"How long is temporary?" I asked._

_"Our best estimates is a googleplex in years." When he finished I asked how long that was. "A google is 1 with 100 zeros after it, a googleplex is a google multiplied by itself a google times." Damn my head hurts._

_"So a big ass number." He nodded. "Guess we are running out of time to explore this dimension." We both chuckled at the sarcastic joke._

_"So far we've discovered that smashing particles together creates this temporary whole, but it lasts a fraction of a second and is too small to travel through." Jason said. "But we've discovered that it is affected by the relative speed of an object while in a gravity environment."_

_"So..." I began to say._

_"So basically, the faster you go in micro gravity the wider the whole is and the longer it stays." Ok, that makes sense._

_"So how fast do you have to go?" I asked. "Roughly Mack 20." He said._

_"How fast is that?" I asked. _

_"Roughly 20 times faster than sound at sea level." Damn, that is fast._

_"This is all fascinating but what does that have to do with me?" I asked, Walker walked up to me to answer._

_"This is more or less a Recon mission, we need you to go to this other world and bring back basic Intel." He said._

_"Again, what does this have to do with me? I'm a SEAL, not a geologist." I said._

_"We are still getting a feed from the satellite, much like how we can see the effects of dark matter. It's there and here at the same time." Damn this is confusing. "It doesn't have modern instruments but we were able to give readings on the other dimension. It is currently in orbit around an Earth like planet with the same air and gravity of our own." He said. "Although the land masses are different from our own based on the pictures so it is not a second Earth."_

_"Again, wha..." I was cut off._

_"We have no idea what kind of life or terrain is down there. If there is an intelligent race or what, we need an expert of survival to stay down there and give us Intel." He said._

_"Why not send Delta, or DEVGRU, one of the Tier 1 units?" I asked._

_"This is technically a scientific project so we have to spare minimum Military assistance for this operation. That accident in Somalia proved to me that you have what it takes to survive in a hostile environment."He than asked everyone but me out of the room. "There is also another reason for you going." Walker said._

_"What is it?" I asked._

_"At 21:00, 3 months ago, over South Korea, one of our cargo planes disappeared without a trace." He said._

_"I thought you need to go fast in order to go through dimensions." I said._

_"That is the only way we know how, but it is apparent that there are other ways." Walker answered, crossing his arms. "On board was a crew of men, who are presumed dead but we need to be sure." Walker took a breath. "Another problem is that there are Nuclear warheads and chemical weapons on the plane, all of it confiscated from North Korea thanks to a Joint Operation with the SAS. You Primary mission is to locate the downed bird and recover the weapons and Intel the operators attained behind enemy lines. Your secondary mission is to locate any survivors and give us Intel on the area including any kind of life you find, if there is any at all."_

_"What about the Operators, were they on the bird when it went down?" I asked._

_"No, the were Extracted via Helo, the crew is are the only ones." He said._

_"How do I locate the bird?" I asked._

_"Two ways, first, the ship that you will travel in not only works as a resupply station but as a state of the art Military Satellite that will provide us with a way to monitor you and inform you of the surrounding area. The second is that you will be able to lock onto the homing beacon of the plane to find it, if it's still intact." He said._

_"Aside from the Nuke, what kind of weapons is on the bird?" I asked._

_"Howitzers and Mortars with Napalm and White Phosphorous." He said._

_"I understand the Crew, but what point is there in finding the weapons? It's not like it can harm us?" I asked_

_"On the plane was the Intel of the Op, and those weapons are proof that North Korea has WMDs, this will give leverage to NATO and the UN in the war. It will also help China to lose some face and show the world how dangerous Korea is. Aside from the howitzers and the Mortars, all the Ammo should be light enough to RTB (Return To Base) with and the Nuke is about as big as a table. It's a miniature warhead and should be easy to transport." Walker said._

_"One last thing, this is going to be a lot of weight, the Crew and weapons, how can you get a shuttle to take us back?" I asked._

_"Good question, the Return Vehicles do not go straight up like a Rocket, but break the atmosphere like a Jet. That is basically what they are, Jet aircraft." Walker said. _

_"Understood, how is this going to go?" I asked._

_"For the next few months you will be training to operate our new Andromeda rocket that will take you to the speed you need to go to reach it. It is equipped with a small pod that you will be housed in for roughly 30 hours." Fuck, I hate cramped spaces, this is going to be SDV training all over again. "It will break through the atmosphere and slow down to 500 MPH, you will eject from the bottom at 70,000 feet and preform your standard HALO Jump. If in the event that it is night time and you can not see you will deploy your shoot early." I nodded. "The rocket you take will have access to other landing crafts, 2 will be for a return trip. encase 1 fails and there will be multiple smaller ones for resupply of ammo, food, clothes etc. This mission will be dangerous, do you accept?" I nodded._

_For the next few months I spent hard training that made SQT (SEAL Qualification Training) look like High School Football practice. It had everything to do with PT (Physical Training), how to work the pod, failure drills, the list goes on. It was fun though. _

_End Flashback   
_

Getting back on topic, I'm now falling from what I assume is 70,000 feet and falling into an empty black void. Man this is scary. I don't have any optics with me so I have no choice but to pull my chute. I grab the cord on my right shoulder and pull.

After about a second or two I should feel a sharp jerk as the chute opens and stops me. But I feel nothing. No worry, the chute probably failed. That is why they give you a back up. I pull that one as well, which is located on my left shoulder, and than... nothing. Shit, both chutes failed. This is starting to get annoying with all the failures.

Remembering my training I shift my body to reach my left shin towards my knife. This action caused the wind to hit my body in a bad position and sent me spinning and spiraling. While trying to hold my lunch in I pulled out my knife, only to see that the blade had melted and was of little use. Grabbing the chute on my front I began trying to pry the lid open, but I couldn't. The Chute had the same protection as my G suit so it wouldn't rip open.

Last chance, I reach to my right shoulder to try and feel for anything to release the parachute. I manage to pull open the fabric a bit and feel the string. It must have just snapped.

I tried to position my body so that my stomach was facing the ground, but it was so dark and the spinning disoriented me so much I couldn't tell what up and down were. So I pulled the string and hoped for the best.

Two seconds later I felt a jerk on my whole body, as well as pressure on the straps around my armpits and groin. The Chute worked, and now I was going down to the ground. That was a nightmare.

I took another breath and just waited until I hit the ground. I looked in front of me and saw nothing but an empty black void. Not many people know this but if you go to a place with no lights than it gets so dark you literally can't see your own hand. Than again, I do have the sun protection of my visor, it makes everything darker than normal, like sunglasses.

After about an hours of parachuting I hit the ground. I lifted my feet in the air so I could slide on my but. Even with a parachute you still hit the ground fast, you wouldn't want to sprain a joint, especially on a mission.

I came to a stop and got up to a sitting position. I looked around but couldn't see anything, save for a large blue dot and smaller red dot in the sky. I unplugged the hoses on my helmet and took it off. Now I could see.

I looked up and saw 2 giant moons in the sky, one red and one blue. This seems like the perfect time to reference the wizard of oz. I stand up and begin taking off the G suit and all the packs I have. I am stripped down to my olive colored boxers and open one of my packs. Inside it has a woodland camo pants and a olive green short sleeve undershirt and a long sleeve shirt over that. In case anyone doesn't know, the long sleeve has baggy sleeves but is tight around the torso so it doesn't fold when you have body armor on. Black combat boots that go almost mid-calf, a Kabar knife that attaches to my shin, to replace my melted one, a flip Spec-Ops knife and lastly a SIG P228 pistol with a suppressor and 3 mags. Not including the Mag in the gun. Each mag has a 9MM bullet and 13 bullets per mag.

Thankfully the bags had the same protection as the G suit so there was no damage. I put on some more gear, water packs, my radio, my PDA, gloves and food and medical equipment.

I checked the PDA to see where the second craft landed. After I detached from the rocket it launched a second landing ship that houses my armor and guns, since I couldn't carry everything with me on the drop. Luckily it read that it was 5 miles away and it was intact.

It landed much like a space rover, with parachutes and rockets slowing it down to a landing. The pod that I came from landed in the ocean, so it was easy to get rid of. Before going to get my gear I took out the thermite charge that would destroy the parachute and G suits. HQ didn't want this to just be left here. I set the charge for 30 minutes and started walking to my gear.

As I walked I began to survey the area, I was in an open field that lead to a forest. I'm no lumber jack but those trees and grass looks so much like ours. If it wasn't for the two moons in the sky I would have thought I was back on Earth.

After about an hour and a half of walking I reached the landing craft. It landed perfectly and didn't seem to suffer any damage from the heat or the shock. I punched in a code to open the container and it popped open.

Inside was a dragon skin body armor that protected the middle of my chest and upper abdomen, slightly bellow the belly button, on my sides and my back. Awoodland camo Boonie hat and a olive green Shemaugh that can be lowered like a scarf or cover my face.

Now for my weapons, 5 M67 Fragmentation Grenades in case I need to clear out a cave or small space of dangerous animals. A MK 14 Mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle with a long range scope with 10X magnification, a grip and a Bi pod. I have 3 20 round 7.62MM X 51MM NATO rounds, and a fourth in the gun, that are strapped to my left side and left thigh. The barrel has been extended by 2 inches for added accuracy and it has a compensator for added control.

I also have a CQBR Carbine, which is an M4 with a barrel 3 times smaller than the M4. It has a rail system with a grip, a Visible Bright Light II flash light on the right of the barrel, a AN/PEQ-2 Infrared Illuminator on the left of the barrel and a 4X Optical Scope or a replaceable iron sight. I have 6 30 round mags, again not counting the one in the gun that are on the front of my body, attached thanks to the armor. Normally this gun fires the 5.56MM X 45MM NATO round but I have personally requested it to be modified to fire the 6.8MM SPC round for added kick, range and accuracy.

Lastly some night vision goggles, a remote operated robot, about the size of my hand for small space Recon and a digital camera and laptop to Recon and send the Intel back to base.

All this gear weighs a lot, probably a good 300, 350 pounds. Which is why the PT before the mission was harder than normal. I will be here for a long time and I have to be sure that I'm ready for anything in the event things go south. It may be a bit of paranoia, after all, we don't think there is any kind of intelligent, or even animals here, but better safe than sorry. The SEAL motto is, attention to detail.

Time to Radio command. Taking out my Radio, which is kind of like one of those old wireless house phones, I punched the number to get command on the line and held it up to my ear. The rubber antenna sends a signal to the satellite, since it is moving fast enough it can send the signal back home and get command on the Radio. The problem is that electro-magnetic energy, like Radio waves, takes 24 hours to reach Earth. Don't ask how matter like me and the ship could pass through in seconds and Energy takes hours, it was too confusing to understand. Something about reversing the state of matter and energy or something. I don't know.

"Mission command this is Riptide, landing was a success, repeat, landing was a success. Commencing Operation "Philadelphia", over." I turned the Radio off and got out the Camera and laptop. I took pictures of the surrounding area and anything that looked like it would go well in a science text book. I plugged in the camera and uploaded the photos to the Satellite.

Finally I got my PDA to see if I could get a signal from downed bird. Unfortunately, since we had no map of the area, or even the planet for that matter, it simply gave me an arrow to follow.

I packed up and began to walk to where the arrow was pointing.

**End Chapter 1**

****Not bad. I like it, I guess it does seem kind of far fetched but given that they had 3 years to work with, it would make sense that it would be possible. After all, excluding the crap I made up, all this stuff is already possible with relative ease. Not to mention, like I always say, I bet that the top secret part of the government has technology decades ahead of civilian or conventional Military use.

Please give feedback, anything, is accepted as long as it's respectful. You can say whatever you want, just don't be a dick.

As for Romance, that is entirely up to my viewers, you guys can vote and decide. If you want there will be no romance except for what's already in the Anime. If you guys want that there are some rules.

1: No pedophilia or underage stuff. Riptide is 24, so the youngest I will accept is 17. If a character is younger than that, no way.

2: No Yoai or Yuri.

Other than that it is up to you.


	2. Chapter 2: WTF?

**Chapter 2: What The** **Fuck?**

I have been traveling for 3 hours, at least according to my watch, I don't know how time works here. The sun was just peaking over the horizon. I'm not to sure though because I am still in a dense forest. I can hear animal sounds in the trees, they sound like birds and other familiar animals but I can't be certain of their species.

My stomach growled and it was now that I realized that I haven't eaten in over 30 hours. I stopped and sat on a fallen tree and opened my MRE. What is on the menu today? Hopefully pepperoni and sausage pizza with a cherry coke, ranch dressing and fries. I opened it up. Ah, my favorite, boneless and dry chicken with some bread, cheese, some kind of soup and chips. It's times like this why I remember BUDS, when we always called them "Meals Ready to Exit". Seriously, these stuff are nasty, but I digress. Food is food, it beats having to hunt... well, it beats wasting ammo. Yea, that's the word.

After finishing it I took a sip of water from my Water Pack. The Military defiantly got that part right. It's like a back pack and it has a rubber hose that goes over your shoulder. All you have to do is turn your head, bite in the rubber and suck. Wow that sounds bad.

Anyway, back to work. As I looked at the arrow I remembered a problem it had, apparently it can't give an exact information, only the relative area of the wreckage around a ten mile radius. I started walking again towards the arrow for another 2 hours until I found something strange. A road. Not anything incredible, but a dirt rode that has tracks in it. As a Sniper I can tell a lot from a things tracks. Some of them were long and narrow, some type of wheeled object, maybe a carriage. The indents are deep so it is a hard wheel, maybe made of wood, and has either Cargo or Passengers. There are also horse tracks. Hell, you don't even need training to tell those U shaped tracks were made by horses.

When I was in School, in Biology class, I remember a lesson we learned. There are 2 main ways to determine if a species is intelligent. First; if it has self-awareness. When animals see themselves in mirrors they will either ignore it or attack it, thinking it's another animal. But if it realizes it is itself it is considered intelligent and is self-aware and operates on more than instinct. Some Primate species are thought to be self-aware because they seem to show they know it is themselves in the mirror. The other way is pretty obvious, tool making skills.

Based on these tracks, this species is defiantly intelligent. That complicates things. Last thing I need is to be considered some kind of Demon and burned at the stake. The tracks are fresh too. Unfortunately I can't tell much more. If they have access to the wheel that puts there estimated technology somewhere around Ancient Egypt tech, to 19TH century tech. Hell, they could be more advanced and this is there version of Amish country.

Now the question is, follow the road, or don't. Make contact, or don't. It's not like I'll be able to communicate with them. I would probably stick out, they might be some kind of species I've never seen before. Than again, if those are the tracks of horses, could it be that these are also humans. If horse exist here it wouldn't be unlikely. Damn, too many questions.

Maybe if I decide to wait and see if anything drives by than I can confirm what kind of species this is. Getting out my CQBR I climb into a tree and hide myself in the foliage. With my camouflage I am almost impossible to see. You would have to know what to be looking for and have a very trained eye. Than again, what if they have heat vision or something.

After another 5 hours I hear the sounds of galloping horses and the sounds of wooden wheels meeting the hard dirt ground. Looking through my Camera, I see a blonde haired man on the front of a box carriage, with a whip in 1 hand and the reigns in another. As the carriage past I could see a woman with... Purple hair? It was only for a second and the carriage past. As it went by I took multiple shots of the encounter. The carriage drove off leaving me alone once again. OK, they're human. Is that good or bad. Based on their cloths it seemed like a Victorian wardrobe, maybe early colonial.

Hopping off the tree I went back to the road, making sure to keep my CQBR in easy reach. It doesn't have a round in the Chamber cause I don't want to risk it going off prematurely, which can happen if it heats up inside the barrel or the firing pin comes loose.

Examining the tracks closely it is apparent that most of the horse prints point in the direction the carriage went, which is too the left of me. The question remains, follow or don't follow. All roads lead to Rome so going in the direction of the carriage would without a doubt take me to a town/village/city or whatever type of populated area.

If I could find a way to communicate with them, it would make downed bird easier to find. But how do I communicate with them? They might not speak my language. To hell with it, I'm going.

I stayed in the forest on the side of the road and decided to do Recon before jumping into an unknown area. I wish I had a horse, my back and thighs feel like jello from all this weight. After walking for 3 hours and having another MRE I reached what looked like a town.

It looked like buildings with European designs. There was the village, and a large castle on top of a hill in the distance. The people it seemed had 2 distinct differences, some wore fine and elegant clothes, others wore trashy and casual clothes. A possible difference in class system?

I climbed the highest tree I could find and took over 20 pictures of just about everything I could see. Some other things I noticed were the lack of different races. From what I could see there was a mainly European white race. I can't find any other kind of race, like African or Asian. Some of the people had a tanned skin so it could be some type of Middle Eastern, Latin or Indian type race. Also, there was a major lack of black hair. Hair colors ranged from red, blue, white, and not the old white, blonde and orange.

I guess I should get in closer. I skillfully moved to the edge of the forest and hid in a bush. Getting out the Camera again I took pictures of the Civilians. Than again, can I even call them that?

"Hey mom, I think I heard something in those bushes." A little girl said.

"Don't worry, it's probably an animal." She said as she lead the kid away. That was close... wait... did I just understand that?

I was close enough to hear the villagers talking with each other and one thing quickly stuck out. I understood them. They weren't speaking English but it was French. As a Special Operator I have to know multiple languages. On SEAL Team 10, they operate worldwide so I have to know more languages than most Operators. I currently know 5, not counting English. I know Korean, French, Spanish, Arabic and German. These people were speaking French. This defiantly makes thing easier. Maybe I could ask around for information, or get Intel on the area.

I decided to step out of the bushes and walk into the village. Instantly heads started to turn. A lot of them out of disgust, maybe the camo pattern makes me look like I lost a fight with a paint brush, who knows.

If there is 1 rule in fantasy games its simple, if you want information you go to the local pub or inn. Hopefully this same concept works in real life. I walked up to a random person, who was dressed in expensive looking clothing and asked in French.

"Hello sir, could you direct me to the local bedding area?" Ok, my French wasn't perfect, I probably sounded a little formal. The man, with blonde hair and a beard looked at me with suspicious eyes.

"Sure Commoner, it is down the way there." He said, pointing down the street. He called me a commoner, maybe this place does have some form of Caste System. It doesn't matter though, I walked away with a smile and pocketed the sack of coins I just stole from the guy. He looks rich, he won't miss it.

Before heading there I went to what looked like a clothes shop. It wasn't easy to tell because for some reason the written language is unrecognizable so I couldn't read the signs. But I found it and purchased a simple brown cloak. It was essentially a cape with a hood. It covered my whole body and wrapped around it. I took my hat off because it got in the way. It's kind of funny because with the rucksack, I look like a hunchback.

Moving on, I found a restaurant, and the thought of well cooked food made my stomach growl. Going in I was greeted by a wonderful sight. About half a dozen girls in French maid outfits all serving everyone. A girl in a green maid outfit and auburn hair walked up to me and asked.

"May I seat you sir?" She asked nicely and folded her hands in front of her, making her chest pop out slightly.

"Uh, yea, sure." I said.

"Right this way sir." As I followed her I saw that her and the other girls were giving me scared looks. Can't blame them considering that I look like a serial killer in this hood. I sat down and asked me what I wanted.

"I'll take the roasted duck with string beans and the baked potato." I said as I pulled my hood down. The girl just stood there for a second staring at me. Guess my 5 o clock shadow and buzzed hair cut either freaked her out or turned her on. Either way works for me really. The only real defining part of my face was the scar on my cheek. It was very big, about an inch and a half long and half an inch wide in the center of the scar. That's what happens when you almost take a Bayonet to the face. I think that was in Afghanistan when we got ambushed by Al Qaeda soldiers. Not fun, being outnumbered 2 to 50 in a small hut.

The girl than walked away and returned to the kitchen. About 10 minutes later my food came. With it was a very... well... flamboyant guy with lipstick and an outfit more revealing than Madana. Those MREs are looking really taste right now.

"Oh hello, here is your food, I hope you are having a wonderful evening." Wow I am unconformable now.

"Uh, thanks, sir." I said but the man waved his arm.

"Oh, call me My Lady please." This is freaky. I think I'll leave this part out of the mission report.

"No problem Si... My Lady." I said. He winked at me and walked away. Oh God, this roast duck looks horrible now. Well, not really, it still looks very good. After finishing I paid the amount of money, for the record, I managed to get the concept of how the money works here, and left as fast as I could. With that out of the way I went to the inn. It was fairly cheap and I went through the last of my money. By now it was getting dark.

I sat on the bar started striking conversations with people. After about an hour I got a general idea of how this world was like. You have the nobles and commoners, I ignored the crap about nobles using magic because lets face it, there is no magic. Well, at least these people aren't burned to the stake for belief in magic. I am currently in the capital of Tristain, a small country that what lacks in Military makes up for in relationships with other countries, like Germania and Romalia. To the north is a small island country called Albion that is experiencing some political intrigue. At the center is Romalia, the Pope having great influence, much like the Catholic Church of the Holy Roman Empire.

It's kind of weird, Romalia is like Rome, Germania is like Germany and Albion was a nick name for the British Empire back in the day. I guess it does make sense, if the Plane got here than what about other civilizations? Question is, who influenced who? That also brings up a scary possibility, could they reverse engineer our weapons. I doubt the Nuke will be in danger, unless the set it off, but the howitzers and mortars, not to mention the fire arms the plane most likely had on board.

After that I went up to my room, which was on the second floor. I took off my cloak and most of my gear and uploaded my pictures and radioed what transpired today. No doubt Walker will be in for a surprise. After that I laid down on the bed. Although I was tired I could keep going if I had too, you don't go through hell week without learning the bodies limits, which is more than most people imagine. I don't want to stress myself though, lack of sleep could lead to slow cognitive functions and could be fatal in the right situation.

The next morning I woke up before dawn and tried to think of what to do next. Should I make contact with the monarchy to help me out, or just leave this village all together? No doubt it would make things easier but than again I don't think they would ever allow me near the queen. I wonder if I should also reveal who I am as well. Would revealing myself give me an advantage, maybe create some kind of peace with these people? No, my mission is to Recon the area and find the downed bird and will continue to be that way unless command states otherwise. I learned a long time ago not to change the mission parameters without clearance, and have the scar to prove it.

Ok, today I will try and find one of the noble, gain a private audience and ask them any information on where the plane crashed. The closest one, other than the Princess is some guy named Count Mott. He is one of the more wealthier types and should be well connected. If anyone would know where it crashed it would be him.

I packed up my gear after having a quick breakfast with an MRE, put on my cloak and headed out of town in the direction of Mott's villa. It didn't take too long, maybe an hour or two but I finally reached Mott's villa. It was a nice place, got to admit. Big gate, large court yard, yea all the signs of being rich off your ass. I went through the gate and was greeted by a guard holding a spear and wearing purple armor.

"Who goes there?" He asked as he ran up to me, his hand on the spear in case I caused any trouble.

"I am a traveler who needs to speak with Count Mott." I said.

"What makes you think Count Mott would waste his time with a commoner such as yourself?" He asked. Damn, what is with these people and their caste system?

"It is urgent, I am looking for something dangerous and I need information." The guard thought for a moment about my request and nodded.

"Very well, Count Mott is currently at the Tristain Academy of Magic." There's that magic bullshit again. "He will return later this evening so you are permitted to wait in the main room, but if you are caught anywhere else of if you take anything that is not yours you will be arrested, understood?" He said

"Yes sir." I said. I tell ya, it is impossible to break that yes sir habit after using it for so long. He lead me to the main room and damn was it nice. Decorations and gold lined walls that would make the Queen of England jealous. I sat down on a chair and waited patiently for Mott. I took this time to take more pictures and looked at my radio. Command sent me a reply.

_"Riptide, we have confirmation of a successful landing, proceed with main mission parameters."_ For a second I wondered why they made no comment about the Intel I gave them, but than I remembered that the message they sent back hasn't reached me yet. That was only the first so some time this evening I will see their reactions. I personally can't wait.

Normally to make contact with a foreign power I must first get confirmation, but given the problems of communication I have been authorized to take any necessary steps to complete my mission. By nightfall, Count Mott returned, behind him was a young maid with shoulder length black hair. I stood up, lowered my hood and approached him.

"Excuse me Count Mott, I wish to have an audience with you." I said and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"What is this commoner doing here?" He turned to his guard. Do I need him alive? I could just shoot him a few times to make him spill his guts, literally and figuratively.

"My name is Riptide and..." I was cut off as he started laughing.

"What the hell kind of name is that?" He said through laughs. I just stood there and waited for him to catch his breath. "Leave my estate boy." He waved me towards the door.

"I will not take up much of your time, I just need some information." He laughed again.

"Again, why should I listen to a commoner?" I had a pretty kamakazi like idea.

"Because I am a noble and requesting help." I said. He looked at me for a second. "I am pursuing a rare form of... Ariel vehicle that has supposedly crashed around here." Maybe they will buy that.

"Prove to me that you are a noble, show me what kind of magic you have." He said. This fucking magic crap again. Now what. I know, I took out a lighter and held it so they couldn't see it through my fingers and lit it. "Ah, fire magic, not bad at all. I myself am a Triangle Mage." Right, whatever you say Harry Potter.

"As I was saying, I need information." He nodded.

"Of course, I will go to my study than, Siesta!" He called to the black haired maid. "Please escort our esteemed guest to my study." He said, she looked down and quietly said to Mott.

"But sir, this is my first time here, I do not know where it is." She said.

"It is at the top of the stairs, turn left and go to the end of the hall, turn right and it is the third door on the left." She nodded and escorted me there.

The trip was somewhat uncomfortable, the maid, Siesta her name was, kept looking at me strangely as we walked. Seriously, what is with these people? I'm not that intimidating am I?

We finally reached Mott's study and Siesta opened the door for me. Being a SEAL teaches you a lot about reading peoples emotions. Something about Siesta told me something was up. She looked kind of sad, anxious and scared.

While we waited an uncomfortable silence was between us. It was more awkward than anything but I decided to strike up a conversation.

"What's up." I said. She just raised an eyebrow and looked up.

"The ceiling sir." I had to stop myself from face palming.

"It means hello." I said.

"I do not understand, why give a greeting in the form of a question?" She said.

"Never mind." I said, the silence followed again. "So how's things?" I asked. and she just shrugged. Seriously, when will Mott get here, this is getting annoying. Ok, control yourself, be professional.

Not to long after that the door opened and Mott appeared.

"Siesta, go fetch us some drinks." Mott said, Siesta nodded and walked out of the room. "So what is it you wanted to talk about Mister Riptide was it?" He asked.

"Yes, my name is Riptide, I know, weird name." I said and Mott chuckled. "I am looking for any rumors on a massive Ariel ship that crashed over half a year ago. Do you know of anything like that?" I asked. Mott sat back in his chair and thought for a second.

"Well, it is not an air ship, but there was a Metal Dragon that fell from the sky around that time." A Dragon? Really? They thought a 50 ton piece of metal was a giant lizard with wings? Whatever floats your boat I guess.

"Where did it fall?" I asked.

"I do not have all the details, the Princess could tell you more." He said.

"Can I get an audience with the Princess?" I asked.

"No, that would be impossible, even with my status I couldn't allow a stranger to enter the palace." He said. "Although you could meet her at the exhibition." I tilted my head slightly.

"The what?" By this time Siesta returned with a bottle of red wine that count Mott poured for himself.

"Wine?" He asked.

"I'm fine, I would rather keep a clear head." I said, he shrugged and took a sip. "Back to our topic, what is this exhibition?" I asked. He raised a brow at me.

"How do you not know about this?" He asked.

"I am not exactly from here." I said.

"Where are you from?" Mott asked.

"I do believe that is my business, so what is this exhibition?" I demanded this time.

"It is a competition of sorts with the second year students from the magic academy that show off their new Familiars." He answered.

"Ok, where is the academy?" I asked.

"About an hour down the road, you can't miss it." He said. I stood up and bowed slightly.

"Thank you Count Mott, I will go to the academy now and see if I can speak to her highness." I'm probably being to formal but I wouldn't want to upset this nobility.

After that I left his study and continued down stairs. When I got to the front gate I saw a kid about 15-16 years old wearing some kind of track outfit. Why does he look out of place? His clothes look rather modern, and plain, like Earth plain not peasant plain. We looked directly at each other and he narrowed his eyes at me.

After that exchange I walked down the road to the Tristain academy to meet this Princess Henrietta De Tristain.

**End Chapter** **2 **

Well, that's it for now.

I had some questions from the reviews and I will try to answer them.

1ST, Riptide doesn't have a team because it would be expensive and hard to send multiple people by the way I made it. Also, it was a low risk Recon mission which are usually done by a single Operator. Another reason is that I didn't want to make him too overpowered. Having a small team would be too strong and too good against anyone else in the show. This way it gives a bit of challenge to the main character and makes thing easier.

2ND, I changed the Rating too T because the M Rating was a minor mistake when I made a new story.

And that's it. I appreciate the feedback.


	3. Chapter 3: Princesses and Thieves

I am altering the time frame slightly. In the show the Count Mott thing and the Princesses arrival are about 2 or 3 days apart, this will be 1 day apart. I also made some slight changes due to our societies influence. The changes will be small, but eventually get bigger as the story goes on.

**Chapter 3: Princesses and Thieves**

It was dark on the way and I didn't want to arrive in the middle of the night. Experience taught me that you can get into trouble with stuff like that. After walking for a half an hour I went into the forest about 50 feet and set up a mini camp site. I didn't really need anything luxurious, but the cloak served as a good tarp to lay on, to keep the bugs and dirt off me.

I got some wood and used my lighter to start a small fire. Today my MRE is Instant Noodles. I remember dating an Otaku girl that said this stuff was called Ramen and not Instant Noodles or Chicken Noodle soup. I personally didn't care, it's better than dry chicken and takes 3 minutes tops to make. I made a make shift stove and began cooking the food, using some of my water from my pack to cook it. Speaking of which, I was running low on water, I would have to fill it up.

As it cooked I checked my Radio and had a message from central command.

_"Riptide this is Command, we have received the information you gave us of the inhabitants of this world. Your mission parameters have changed slightly, if it is not possible to bring back the weapons you are authorized to destroy them, but leave the data intact. We can not allow them to fall in the wrong hands. Do whatever is necessarily to complete your mission, from here on you are given full pardon for any actions you take in completing the mission."_

Basically that meant that as long as my actions had to do with the mission I could do whatever I wanted. Kidnap, interrogate, espionage, murder, anything. This is normal in war zones, where Spec-Ops can't be bothered by the laws or we risk failing a mission. For us, failing a mission could cost the lives of hundreds, thousands or even millions. The needs of the many out way the needs of the few. It's not something I personally agree with, but I can't let these things keep me from my mission.

_"You are not to reveal your purpose here to anyone, and you are not allowed to reveal who you are or who you work for. The only information you can give is your name. You are authorized to make contact as long as you do not reveal any unwanted information."_

Maybe I jumped the gun a bit when speaking to Mott, but it is the only way to find the downed bird with ease. I would rather avoid looking through a large area and find a plane stripped of it's cargo. I am almost certain that one of the kingdoms have found the cargo and are trying to figure out what it is. I'm more worried about the Nuke, but the others are kind of easy to find out. A howitzer is not that different from a cannon after all.

It's kind of funny because Walker doesn't sound so shocked. Probably took him a bit to actually say that. When it comes to mission briefings everything is taken seriously. It annoys me sometimes, when it comes to officers and soldiers, there is very little humor. It's like a teacher and a student. The officer tells you to bend over and you do it, metaphorically.

Resting my head on my ruck sack I closed my eyes and waited till I fell a sleep. Now you see, trained soldiers when we sleep during a mission we do what's called combat dreaming. Every 5 or 10 minutes I would sit up and look around for a minute and go back to sleep. Even a broken stick will wake us up. And our biological clocks are so fine tuned that I can wake up the exact hour I want to. If I wanted to wake up at 06:05 and 30 seconds exactly I would.

My dreams were more like nightmares. Frankly I don't remember much about them after I wake up, but I remember that my dreams are more like memories replaying from previous missions I've been on. It's nothing bad, I haven't even come close to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but the nightmares are still never easier.

I woke up at exactly 06:00, just as the sun was rising. After packing up and having a small breakfast, which was the MRE left overs from last night that I didn't eat, I packed up and headed out. I would have to ration food more often. I am down to 7 MREs, and I don't want to have to get a supply drop from the satellite just yet.

I got back on he road and began walking back to the academy. My legs were sore from all this weight and my back was aching from this ruck sack. It would clear up mostly after I bend down and touch my toes to stretch it out but it is still annoying.

After a quarter of a mile I saw a pink and purple carriage on the road. There were some men in armor who had their hands bound, and some servants as well. There was also another woman, she had purple hair and an elegant dress. She was also bound like her companions. There were 4 men with weapons that were looking through the carriages. This looked like a robbery. I could not let this transpire.

Discarding the cloak and putting on my camo hat I moved to the right into the shrubs to hide myself, using my camo to my advantage. I pulled out my MK 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, or the modified M14 as it's more commonly known as, and zeroed in the men. The distance was roughly 100 yards, which I could have used my CQBR but I didn't want to risk missing because of the short barrel. Better safe than sorry.

I checked the servants long hairs to get a general guess of the wind, not much at all. Literally all I had to do was put the cross hairs on the targets and they were done. I looked the thugs over, 4, no 6 men, armed with some kind of fire arms. They had on leather armor and masks, they were your typical thugs. One of them pointed a pistol at the purple haired girl who shut her eyes and waited for death.

I acted fast, flicked off the safety and put my finger on the trigger. I held my breath and my heart beat decreased to 60 BPM. I lined up with the mans head and fired a single shot. The muzzle velocity of this round can go up to 3,200 feet per second, faster than sound. The bullet hit him right on the side of his neck, severing the spinal cord and making his drop instantly. A clean kill. The poor bastard probably didn't even hear the bang before getting hit.

His friends instantly looked in my direction and began to panic as they saw their buddy go down. By the time the first thug hit the ground I pulled the trigger a second time, hitting the guy next to him in the chest. I hit him right in between the nipples, where the heart is. Even if I missed his heart, the temporal cavity, which is the temporary hole in the body from the impact, probably tore it apart.

Putting my cross hairs on the third guy I pulled the trigger again, hitting him in the gut. It hit his kidney and if he got modern medical attention quick than he could survive.

The other 3 thugs fired blindly at my direction, than turned around and ran away. I flicked the safety back on, knowing that there was no point in wasting more ammo on retreating targets. I took the round out of the chamber, put it back into the mag and then I replaced the MK 14 on my back and got out my M4 CQBR Assault Rifle in case there were more. I put a round in the chamber and flicked the safety off. I kept my finger off the trigger since there was little chance of a fight. I moved from my position and over to the captives.

They all looked at me with wide eyes and terrified expressions. I went over to the purple haired girl and pulled out a knife. All her companions screamed in their gags, the guards throwing all the killer intent the could at me. As I neared violet, she closed her eyes again thinking the worst.

What I did shocked everyone, I cut her bonds and freed her. While she just sat there shocked I moved onto the next guy and cut him free as well. I did so until everyone was freed.

I stood up as I freed the last servant and the purple haired girl walked up to me.

"Thank you stranger for saving my life." She said. I nodded and paid little attention to her. "Is there any way I could reward you?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks anyway." I said as I knelt to the man I shot. The vertebrae in his neck was severed, the only thing keeping his head on was the skin on the front of his neck and his wind pipe. Blood pooled everywhere and it was a nasty sight, but I'm used to this by now. I could tell that the others, and some of the younger guards were having trouble keeping their stomach down.

"How did you accomplish that?" She asked.

"Magic." I said while paying little attention.

"I've never seen magic like that before." She said.

"No you haven't sweetheart." I said, getting a bit annoyed now. Damn lady, I saved you so can you please leave.

"How dare you address her highness in such a manner!" A guard yelled. "I stood up and looked at her shocked. This is the princess? I was expecting a woman in her 30s or 20s or something. Not a girl who looks like she's twelve. The king died and she has taken the throne, at least that is what I heard. But she is so young.

"Your Princess Henrietta?" I asked. She nodded and smiled.

"No apologize for insulting her royal highness." I was about to deck this guy. I didn't give a rats ass if she was a princess, she could be the pope and I wouldn't give a damn. I don't like this monarchy thing, and especially don't like the Caste System. I just wanted to do my job and go home.

"Hey buddy, your Princesses brains would be scattered on the dirt road if it wasn't for me so shut the fuck up or I will tear you a new one." I said getting into the guards face.

"Do what?" He said, guess they didn't get our slang.

"Please, enough, he did save us so we are in his dept." The child princess said.

"But..." The guard stuttered.

"Down boy." I said, maybe it was stupid to piss him off but it was worth it. Swallowing his pride he backed down because of the princesses orders. Oh man if looks could kill.

"Do you know who these men were?" She asked.

"I thought you would know more than me." I said. I looked down at the robbers guns and saw something strange. I motioned for the princess to shut up, and she in turn told her guard to be quiet after he started yelling about respecting the princess or something.

Those guns looked like an M16. It was crude and made of iron, it had no magazine and parts like the stock and grip were made of wood. It had carvings on it, much like 16TH century muskets and a handle on the top that serves as a crude iron sight. The sight had 2 prongs sticking up on the top of the handle and 1 on the front. Not like our M16s. I hit a switch on the side and it bent forward, like what you would do to field strip it. There was a bullet in the chamber, and it looked like you loaded each bullet in like this, kind of like the early trap door gun. The bullets were round balls, much like muskets, that were attached to a metal case with a primer on the back. It looked like a crappy and cheap M16. That is not good, not good at all.

"I've never seen muskets like those?" The princess said.

"They're not muskets." I said.

"What are they than?" Henrietta asked.

"A cheap carbon copy of the M16A1 Service Rifle." I said.

"The what?" A guard said.

"A gun, much like this." I held up my CQBR.

"Like your musket?" The Princess asked.

"No, this is a cheap rip off, my gun is a variant of the AR-15 models, this is the MK 18 Mod 0 M4 Close Quarters Battle Rifle that fires the 6.8MM round." I said. Maybe hat was too much, if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought her head would spin right off her body.

"Makes sense I guess." She said. I started looting the guys body, looking for anything that could tell me who he is. He's no robber, this had the look of an assassination on it and you don't get weapons like those at the local weapons shop.

"Speaking of which, I must speak with you your highness." I said, the guards tensed up and Henrietta arched an eyebrow. Got to admit, she was pretty cute.

"Of course, for saving my life I will grant you any request you desire." She said.

"It needs to be in private though, I don't want anyone over hearing us." She nodded.

"I am on my way to the Exhibition of the Familiars at the Tristain Academy, you are welcome to accompany me and than we can speak." She said.

"Fair enough Princess." I bowed out of respect to her. Although I didn't agree with a monarchy government with a Caste System, she seemed nice enough. That earned her points in my book.

She boarded her carriage with help from her servants, seriously, can't these royalty types get out of a car on their own, or carriage in this case. I know they have long dresses but still. Than again, dresses are hard to wear. I had an experience like that in High School when I lost a bet and went to the Halloween party as Belle. I got hammered so it was no big deal.

We reached an open clearing with a massive wall and castle in the center. Man, that was massive, not as big as the Palace but damn close to it. We went through the front gate and were greeted by a huge crowd of what looked like Harry Potter rejects. With almost all the kids were what looked like weird animals, a mole, a red charmander like lizard, a fucking blue Dragon with a petite blue haired girl holding it. This place is fucked up.

In the corner of my eye I saw Siesta, the maid from Mott's place. What is she doing here? I'd think she was on vacation or leave but she is wearing a maids outfit. Near her I saw that kid from Mott's house as well. The one in the track outfit. Now he was staring at me with a look of surprise. I guess because I forgot my cloak so I was showing my "Weird" clothes. In front of him was what looked like a 12 year old girl with pink hair. They have just about every colored hair in this world.

I walked with Henrietta and we approached a line of old people who were on their knees as the Princess entered.

"Lord Osmond." Henrietta said. Nah, he's Dumbledore, defiantly Dumbledore. "I apologize for the sudden selfish request." The Princess said as she stopped walking.

"Not at all your highness." Osmond said. "The students and I have eagerly been awaiting your arrival with joyful anticipation." I guess that's the word for it, looking at all the boys in the crowd.

"This is the one year I really wanted to see the Exhibition with my own eyes." Se said.

"Oh, and why's that?" Osmond asked.

"Just a personal reason, that's all." She said with a giggle. Turning my head to look at the students, I had to wonder if either Henrietta's possible secret lover or friend is participating.

"May I ask who this is?" Osmond asked as he pointed to me.

"This is a stranger who saved my life when some thieves ambushed us." Osmond's eyes widened. "Do not worry, no harm has come to me or my servants thanks to him and his strange magic." Does everyone believe in magic here? They're saying it as if it's a common everyday thing.

"Can we just get on with this!" I almost yelled. "I am getting really annoyed with all this clue searching. Can we please get on with this?" Wow, if looks were like guns than I'd have a whole platoon of bullets heading my way, maybe that wasn't a good idea.

"Of course, my apologies." The Princess turned to Osmond. "There is a private matter that I must discus with him, for saving my life." Osmond nodded.

"It will be safe in my studies from prying ears." He said.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Some green haired woman walked up to me.

"I just need information and I will be on my way." She nodded.

"Very well, I should probably be present, I have heard a lot of things over the years and could be of some assistance." Osmond said.

"Fair enough, let's get to it." I said.

After reaching Osmond's study everyone left save for me, the Princess and Osmond.

"What is you would like to discus." The Princess asked.

"I am looking for a giant Metal Dragon that fell from the sky half a year ago." I said. Henrietta thought for a minute.

"We have heard reports of the Rex Draconum had fallen north of here, on the island of Albion." She said. Rex Draconum, Latin for the "King of Dragons".

"Any idea if anyone has found it?" I asked, already kind of knowing the answer.

"We have heard that Albion has recovered the Dragon and will not share what they have found." Henrietta said. I doubt they would let me anywhere near it. Why is it that you are looking for it anyway?" She asked. Got to think of a good lie now.

"That Dragon has a great and evil power inside of it. Without the proper training or knowledge that power could destroy entire villages or entire islands." She looked at me with wide eyes. Well, it wasn't a lie, I'd like to think of it more as "Translating" than lying.

"That is horrible, and you are here to purge this evil?" She asked.

"Something like that, I guess you could call me a holy man." In societies such as this, where religion dominates everything it is best to be labeled as a holy man than most other things. Even though I don't like societies like that it can sure prove useful.

Not that I have anything against religion. There are 2 types societies that absolutely suck, strict Religious societies and strict Atheistic societies. In a strict Religious society, you believe what your told and you are allowed to live. In a pure Atheist society, your fucked either way. The former Soviet Union, China, North Korea etc, all completely deny religion. Having a religion is punishable by death.

My favorite type is like the US or UK. Freedom of religion and belief. Hell, the Soviet Union got better when it allowed freedom of religion. Anyway, back to work.

"That is incredible." Henrietta said.

"Yea, great, can we focus?" I said growing annoyed again.

"Where are you from?" Osmond asked. Damn, how do I respond to that?

"I am from a land far away from here. For the sake of our magical kingdom we would rather stay out of your business." I said. Henrietta smiled and nodded but Osmond narrowed his eyes. Henrietta seems pretty innocent and naive but Osmond knows better.

"I guess that is all ok." Osmond said. "So what do you plan to do now?" Osmond asked me.

"I intend to travel to Albion and continue with my mission." I said. I would have to radio in command and inform them of this decision, no doubt I will have to sneak into Albion in order to destroy the stuff. I will also need to call down a re-supply drop, to get some C4 to blow it sky high.

"Before you go I insist that you stay for the Exhibition, it is the least I can do for what you did for me." She said.

"You've already paid your dept Princess, I have a mission to complete." I said not wanting to be here any longer.

"No, it is not enough, there must be something else that I can help you with." She insisted. Than again, the short break will be good for me, it will give me a chance to rest from carrying all that gear. It also gives me an opportunity to Radio command.

"Sure, sounds fun." I said. I wanted to limit Tristain's involvement as much as possible. At least until I Radio my superiors.

The next day was mostly uneventful. Everyone was getting their Familiars ready and preparing the stages.

The Exhibition was very interesting to say the least. I had to stand next to Henrietta because it is "Normal" for guests to stand during this crap. It was entertaining though, and I have to admit these kids are good magicians. I'm still amazed on how the tanned red head with the charmander made it shoot fire. These kids can do some pretty impressive tricks, I have to admit.

Next up was a girl with pink hair and the boy in the track suit. The whole time he was eyeing me, I was beginning to get creep-ed out.

"Allow me to introduce him." The pink haired girl, who was announced as Louise Fran-something. "This is my Familiar, his name is Saito Hiraga." That name sound very Japanese. You know, it just crossed me, this is a competition for pets, so why is he there? Is this some form of Slavery? "His type is..." She didn't look very confident.

"Go for it Louise the Zero!" Some random kid called out and others started laughing.

"He's a Commoner alright!" She yelled. Everyone started laughing, I don't get it. What is going on here. Clearly she is not very popular but this is confusing.

"Shut up, stay quiet and watch!" Saito yelled as he took out an old rusted sword. That thing doesn't even look like it can pick your teeth without breaking. "Let's go!" He screamed.

"Go where?" Did that just come from the sword? The next 30 seconds were him arguing with his sword. Ah, going with the comedy routine, smart. That kid is one hell of a ventriloquist, I can't even see his mouth move. Louise dragged him off as everyone laughed, including me but I just chuckled. I am voting for him, without a doubt. While everything else was amazing, parlor tricks get old after a while, nice to see some comedy.

"Now it is my pleasure to announce this years grand prize winner!" Some balding guy with glasses said. "Is Tabitha!" So, the blue haired girl with the giant Dragon wins. It still blows my mind how they can mistake a Cargo Plane with a Dragon.

BOOM

"What the?" I said to myself. It was a small one but after years of experience I could tell that was an explosion. Everyone else paid little attention but I knew better. Taking out my CQBR and putting a round in the chamber I ran over to the noise.

I ran to the other side of the castle and was greeted with the weirdest thing I have ever seen. A 50 foot rock robot thing was attacking Saito and Louise. Saito was in the things hands and Louise had a stick pointed at it. I aimed at what looked like a weak point, the eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Click

Oh shit, the damn thing is jammed. I quickly smacked the forward assist and aimed again. This time when I pulled the trigger I heard the satisfying sound of a gunshot. I fired 3 shots but it did nothing. I flipped the switch to fully auto and started firing again in short bursts until my mag was empty. Every one hit they eyes but it was as effective as hitting a tank.

I took out a new mag and replaced the magazine, making sure to put the empty one back into my pouch. I made a mental not of having 6 mags left and ran for cover. Juts in time too because the Rock thing tried to step on me. Getting out of cover I saw it reach it's hand to a hole in the wall and a cloaked woman ran out of the hole and onto the hand.

I aimed the gun directly at the woman, who I suspected was responsible for this. I put it back on Semi-Auto again, since accuracy was more important at the moment. Thanks to the 4X magnification of the Combat Scope I managed to make out more features. All I saw though was green hair falling out of the hood. I aimed for the empty space right in front of her and held my breath, trying to lead my target as she ran. I pulled the trigger and she fell down onto the hand of the thing.

She looked at me with what I assumed was a surprised look and held her injured leg. I missed, the bullet only grazed her calf. In her hands was a case of some kind, no doubt a robbery. With that the thing left with the woman and dropped Saito, who was caught thanks to Tabitha and her Dragon. After she left I just stood there dumb founded.

"What the Fuck was that!" I screamed to no one in particular.

**End Chapter: 3 **

Like I said, there were some changes to the story due to our influence, and will continue to be that way.

**IMPORTANT: **I was thinking that possibly in the second season I would add the US actually coming in, like more soldiers and vehicles. So as not to make us overpowered I will send in small forces, so the enemy will have the advantage in sheer numbers. I will even have interactions between say, the Marines and Tristain forces, you know, jar head stuff, and having the US make an alliance with Tristain. I just want to ask, do you guys want this? Do you want me to keep it strict with 1 character or bring more in, possible a small army. It won't be a plot device, or jumping the shark, there will be a reason, and even a scientific reason as to why they don't have to go fast again. It's up to you guys, I will let you guys vote to see if you want it or not.


	4. Chapter 4: Magic Exists?

**Chapter 5: Magic Exists? **

It was getting late and I was in a room for guests of the Academy. I took more pictures of the grounds and up loaded them to command. I also Radioed in the situation and included the part about the Golem, as they called it, from this morning. I highly doubt they will believe it but that's what I saw. Lastly, I radioed about the existence of copies of M16s, I asked command how they would like me to respond. It only took a few hours for a reply which greatly shocked me.

_"Riptide this is command, since you were gone we have found alternate ways to communicate, this allows us to send messages faster and in time it could be allow us to speak in real time. For the moment I will spare you the details but it will eventually lead to a more cost effective form of transport, accelerating to speeds much more manageable than before, If the research continues this way we will be able to send in more supplies and even researchers. _

_Regarding the information of the mocked guns, we fear that a technological boom in this cultures weaponry could lead to a possible threat in the future. You are to follow the leads of these weapons and locate the source of its development, we believe this will lead you to the plane since there were M16A3 Assault Rifles on board." _

Fucking ass holes. Oh no, I suppose you guys think it's easy to be down here and just look for these god damn things with no idea where it came from or how to go about this. But orders are orders so I have no choice but to continue with the mission.

With regards on what to do next, I decided it is time to travel to Albion for infiltration, recon, possible rescue and sabotage. Getting there won't be easy, when I checked a map it said that it was on an island about 300 Kilcs north from the shore line of Tristain. Time to cash in on the debt the Princess owes me.

I walked over to her room, leaving me body armor and most of my weapons and equipment back in my room. I made sure to booby trap it with some flash bangs in case anyone tried to touch it. As I was walking I saw that Saito kid from earlier holding a laundry basket. He looked at me and dropped the basket.

"You..." He stuttered. I was getting annoyed with all this shock from everyone. "Your from Earth, aren't you?" He said. My eyes widened.

"How the hell do you know about that." I said. He breathed in slightly and said.

"My name is Saito and I'm from Japan." He said. I was flabbergasted.

"How the hell did you get here?" I asked.

"Long story short, Louise summoned me." I just eyed him.

"Naturally, seriously, how did you get here?" I asked again.

"I'm serious, I was just walking home and than I saw a portal appear in the middle of nowhere and it sucked me in. I woke up in the courtyard down there." Did they already know how to go through dimensions? If they could make more of those Golem things, and appear anywhere they wanted, that could be a serious risk of national security.

"So you were kidnapped?" I asked.

"No, it was kind of an accident." If that's true than they could be in the experimental phase, just like us. All we would need is another god damn war with a country on a "Holy" mission. The only thing that would worry me is if they managed to get our weapons, and that kind of mobility with the transporting could put our WMDs in severe danger. "How did you get here?" Saito asked.

"That's classified information, without the proper clearance I can't tell you." I said.

"So does that mean you can go back?" He said.

"I can neither confirm or deny that statement." I said.

"Come on, I know you Americans like your secrets but I want to go home." He started getting angry. "There has to be some way to get back." I felt kind of bad for the kid.

"I will speak with my superiors on the subject but I can't make any promises, I have a mission to complete." I said.

"And what, leave me here?" Saito asked.

"Preferably not, but without the ok from my superiors I can't take you." Saito just glared at me.

"Oh ya, what if I told everyone who the so called "Holy Knight" really is, than what?" Saito said with a smirk.

"I have been given full permission to do whatever it takes to complete my mission without consequences, so if that meant silencing one little boy, who has probably been reported dead by now, I will do so." I said as Saito's eyes widened in fear. I didn't mean it though, even though I am allowed to kill him if he became dangerous I wouldn't, it just wouldn't sit well with my morals.

"Damn American." Saito said as he walked off. I meant what I said, I would try to help him out, but there are more important things going on right now. Leaving him be I started walking to Henrietta's room. I saw 2 guards stationed there, both looked at me and bowed.

"Hello sir knight." They both said. I saluted them out of habit and they just looked at me funny. They tried to copy me but failed miserably.

"I must speak with her royal highness." I said. They nodded and opened the door for me. When I went in I saw Henrietta writing something on a piece of paper and what I assumed was a carrier pigeon next to her. She turned to see me and stood up. She than curtsied out of respect. I saluted again and she cocked her eyebrow.

"Hello miss Henrietta, I was wondering if I could hold you to that deal of yours, about owing me for saving your life." I said.

"Of course sir knight." She said. "But before that I have something to tell you. For your bravery I have decided to honor you with the title of Chivalry." I was flattered to say the least but...

"Sorry, but I'll have to decline." I said. She looked at me with shock.

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you refuse the title?" She asked.

"Where I am from, I am a member of an elite fighting force that takes on the most dangerous and risky missions in our Military." I said. "We are known as Silent Warriors, I joined not for the fame but because I believed it right. Every day I do things that are top secret, no one will ever know the good I have done and my name will never go down in history." She looked at me with a bit of sorrow.

"That sounds like a hard job." She said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Personally, I would prefer it if you just forgot about me entirely." I said.

"I don't know if I can do that, if not for you I would be dead. But if ever you need anything you will always find Tristain as a good ally." She just remembered something. "And you said you needed help correct?" I nodded.

"Those men who attacked you were using weapons from my people. They are very dangerous and thankfully they have not figured out the concept of automatic fire. Not even repeating fire thankfully." I said. "But the only way they could have gotten the knowledge to build that is from the "Rex Draconum" you mentioned." She widened her eyes.

"If that is true than that would mean..." I cut her off.

"That Albion was trying to assassinate you." I broke the ice. Henrietta looked hurt, scared, and heart broken.

"Prince Whales would never..." She began.

"Well, if from what I heard about the Political situation is true than it was probably someone else, possibly the ones responsible for the coup." I reassured her.

"Yes, you are right." Henrietta said.

"Back to what I was saying, I need a ride to Albion. I plan to find the Dragon and destroy it." I said. You know, with getting caught up in this "Translating" that I'm doing, it kind of makes me forget what I'm really going after. "I need a way to get there, anything would help." Henrietta nodded.

"Of course. I will return to the castle tomorrow and have a transport ready for you." I nodded my thanks.

I headed back to my room and decided to do some light workouts. Push ups, sit ups, pull ups, that kind of thing. It usually helped me get to bed on days when I couldn't sleep. This whole situation got me worried. This was supposed to be a simple mission, go into a dead world and return some lost equipment and save a stranded crew.

The next day I was called to Osmond's study, where Louise, Saito, some red haired and blue haired girls and some other Nobles in green robes. There was also the green haired secretary. Wait, green hair? I eyed her from across the room. I hit the thief in the right calf, but the girl was wearing knee high boots and didn't appear to be limping.

"After questioning several witnesses around town we have gained credible information of a suspicious shadow that was seen entering and leaving a desserted shack in the woods this morning." The Secretary said.

"Very speedy work miss Longueville." Osmond said. "You are to be commended."

"From those testimonies I attempted to sketch out a picture of the shadow." She held up a piece of paper. Osmond took it and looked at it for several seconds. He then flipped it and showed it to the students. They looked at it with intent.

"This is Fouquet." Louise said. "There is no doubt about it."

"Question." I raised my hand. Everyone looked at me and just realized I was here. Saito just stared daggers at me.

"Yes?" Osmond asked.

"How rare is green hair?" I asked and everyone just cocked an eyebrow.

"Somewhat rare I suppose. Why?" Osmond asked.

"No reason, just taking notes." I said. The Secretary, Longueville, if my suspicion is correct than she should be the thief. Of course I wouldn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. I stared at Longueville for a good few seconds, her eyes trying to avoid mine. In interrogation training we are taught to find any hints of a persons true intentions and to detect if a person is nerves or hiding something. It is hard to detect and some people can hide it well but everyone reacts the same way when they lie or are suspected, unless trained.

"We must report this accident to the Palace at once, I will also request for guards to go after her." The guy with the glasses said.

"If we waste time with those bureaucrats Fouquet will get away." Osmond said. We must capture Fouquet ourselves if we are to regain the honor we lost from that thief." He turned to everyone in the room. "Now raise your staff if you are up for the challenge." No one in the room raised their staffs.

"Yo." I said raising my hand.

"Yo?" Everyone asked.

"It means I'm up for it." I said. Osmond nodded.

"Mind if I ask why Sir knight?" Osmond said.

"I just find it strange that after the princess is nearly killed with weapons that shouldn't exist, that a giant rock would steal something from the same area within the same time frame. If I help you capture the bitch, than I request that you let me interrogate her." I said. What I said was true, it just seemed to be off, and I'm getting that feeling.

Almost all Snipers will tell you that they have a 6TH sense, they some how know that something is going to happen or that something is connected. Your not a Sniper if you don't have it. It's not something that you can get either, you either have it or you don't.

"yes, of course. Is there anyone else who will go?" Louise raised her hand.

"I'll do it." Louise announced and everyone looked surprised.

"I will go to." The red head said.

"Kirche?" Louise asked. Kirche? That is German for church. And by the way that girl is dressed, no actually that makes perfect sense.

"I can't afford to lose to you." She said.

"Of all the..." I whispered to myself, dumbfounded that this girl thought this bounty hunt was a game.

"Tabitha?" Kirche asked as the blue haired girl raised her hand as well. Let me get this straight, we have a lot of powerful men in this room but the only ones who signed in are a bunch of school girls? I don't know if that is funny or sad. "You don't have to do this."

"I'm worried about both of you." Tabitha said in a dry, emotionless voice.

"Well I will leave it to the three of you than." Osmond said.

"Time out, time out." I said and everyone looked at me again. "Let me get this straight, we have a room, full of some of the greatest mages in the area and you send off a bunch of school girls who have barely hit puberty?" I asked. Said girls looked like they wanted to kill me. "So you send them off against one of the greatest thieves in the area to recover a weapon deemed more valuable than most of your other shit?"

"Yes." Osmond nodded with little hesitation.

"Go fuck yourself." I said the fuck part in English, not knowing how to curse in French.

"I do not own a seal." Osmond said.

"No, not Phoque, fuck." Osmond just stared at me. "Never mind, I'll be waiting outside for you guys." I said and walked out of the room.

I got all my gear together and marched out to the front gate where I saw the girls waiting. We boarded a horse and carriage and Longueville took the drivers seat, or whatever that thing was called. She whipped the horses and we were off. I really hate how people whip horses to make them go. I'm so animal abuse activist, but I don't like to see that. After an hour of silence and glares from Saito he broke the silence.

"So if Fouquet is a Noble woman why is she stealing things?" Saito asked.

"The fact of the matter is that not all Mages are Nobles, some have lost their status and go into hiding, on some occasions becoming criminals." Longueville said.

"But all Nobles are Mages, right?" I asked.

"Yes, it was decreed by God that the commoners would serve those with the powers to keep them in line. It is the natural order of things." She said.

"Bullshit." I said.

"What does that mean" Kirche asked.

"Who the fuck cares if commoners don't have magic, that is just fucked up." I said. I guess I'm starting to come to term that magic here exists. Unless they somehow made a giant pile of rocks move on its own.

"You are a Noble so you should understand." Louise said.

"Where I come from, all men are equal. It is in our constitution, "All men are created equal"." Everyone except Saito looked at me funny.

"That would be a horrible thing, commoners and Nobles equal? have your people no shame?" Kirche asked.

"That is what we are like, every man and woman is allowed the same education and opportunities to succeed and everyone is to be judged fair by our laws and is innocent until proven guilty." I said. "It doesn't always work like that, there will always be corruption but it is the most perfect society I can think of."

"Well I think it's barbaric, having commoners doing whatever they please." Kirche said.

"And you would know of Barbarism Germanian?" Louise said to Kirche. From what I heard, Germania was considered Barbaric. Kind of funny considering the term Barbarian came from the German tribes of the Roman Republic.

"Well what can I say, that is what we are like." I said. "If you have a problem with it, pick a number and get in line."

"What number?" Kirche asked.

"It's a figure of speech." I said while resisting the urge to face palm. These girls are so... young. I'd guess they're between 12 to 17 but come on, this is kind of stupid. Granted when I was that age I chased after girls like that but after getting a bit of professionalism hammered into you, literally, you have a different view of teenagers. I still find it hard to believe they left this job to a bunch of teens.

I sort of zoned out from the following conversation, learning that Longueville was one of those fallen nobles, making my suspicion raise considerably, and a bit more of her past. Kirche was also flirting with Saito a lot and I resisted the urge to scream Get Some!

We arrived at a small abandoned shack in a small clearing in the trees. I jumped out and put a round in the chamber of my CQBR. I still had 6 mags so I was good with ammo. I moved up to the door, alone, and got on the edge of the frame. I twirled my finger in the air to tell the others to regroup.

"What?!" Louise yelled as I motioned for her to keep it down. "Just talk will you." She said and the other walked over here. Right, these people didn't know hand signs and didn't understand the concept of stealth. Guess I kind of got lost in the moment.

"There's nobody in there!" Saito yelled while looking through the window.

"Will you guys be quiet!" I half screamed, half whispered.

"Why?" Kirche said.

"The name of the game is stealth ok." I told them.

"That's cowardice." Longueville said.

"It keeps us alive, why do you think I dress this way?" I said pointing to my camo.

"I thought it was just dirty." Louise said.

"No, he uses the colors and patterns to blend in a woodland environment so it is hard to find him." Saito said.

"Thank you kid." I said and Saito glared at me. Guess he still didn't like me much.

I grabbed the handle of the door and turned it. Nothing, it was locked. Mentally counting to 3 I kicked in the door and rushed in with my gun drawn.

"Breaching, breaching!" I yelled while running in. I did a quick 180 scan of the room and found nothing. "Clear!" I told everyone else.

"What was that all about?" Louise asked.

"Go in hard and fast before they have a moment to react." I said.

"That's what she said." Saito joked.

"Who is she?" Kirche asked.

"It's a joke." I said.

"I don't get it." Longueville said.

"Who gives a fuck, can we just look around real quick. Louise, I want you to secure the perimeter." I told her.

"What does that mean?" Louise asked.

"Guard the outside." I said. She nodded and went out. I would prefer to keep Longueville away from my backside in case she tried to pull a fast one on me.

We looked around for a bit and could find nothing. No clues that anyone was here, no staff and no thief.

"Let's get out of here, I'm getting covered in dust." Kirche said.

"Staff of destruction." Tabitha said with no emotion. She picked it up and carried it over here. Can't say much about it, it was just a case with some weird designs on it.

"AHHH!" We all heard a high pitched scream come from outside.

"Louise!" Saito screamed. All of a sudden the roof was blown apart and there was the Golem thing from earlier looking down at us. Tabitha ran up to it and held here stick out and said some undefined words. All of a sudden a tornado came from the stick and hit the Golem, doing very little damage. Kirche did the same and launched a stream of fire at the thing, making a flame thrower look like a lighter. The Golem stumbled back but regained its balance and stared at us again.

I was just sort of frozen on the spot, how the fuck did that just happen?

"Not even a mark, impossible." Kirche took a step back. Breaking out of my stupor I ran out of the house for cover, the others following behind me. I had a feeling Longueville was the one who did this so I had to find her and take her out. Way I figured it, cut the head off the snake and the body dies.

The kids got a ride on the blue dragon and got to a safe height. Louise on the other hand was waving her stick and nothing was happening. I took cover in a bush hoping to conceal myself and took aim at the thing. Saito ran to Louise and was trying to talk her out of attacking. I couldn't hear what was going on but Louise just broke down into tears.

The Golem was about to hit them so shifting my attention I fired 3 shots at it. It stopped in mid attack and looked in my direction. If it has the eye sight of a person it should have a lot of difficulty finding me. Saito picked up Louise and took her to the Dragon. After boarding her Saito drew a golden sword and prepared to attack. If Magic is real, maybe he can use that sword to win. It's doubtful but I best stay concealed for the moment in case he needs me to act.

I switched for my M14 and kept it at the ready. I switched to fully auto, because in this situation accuracy is not so important, and the added punch of the 7.26 will come in handy. Saito charged and attacked, and his damn sword broke. It didn't even leave a scratch. I took aim at the things eyes and fired short controlled bursts. Although it did very little damage the thing was having a difficult time seeing.

Saito got out an old rusted sword and charged again, this time lobbing off an arm. The adrenalin was pumping so I barely regarded it. In the corner of my eye I saw Louise jump off the Dragon and open the box. She took out a... What the? Is that a...?

She waved the damn thing around like a wand. I ran out of cover and over to her position.

"Saito, keep the damn thing busy!" I screamed. I reached Louise and grabbed the weapon. "Give me this!" I shouted. All of a sudden a huge hand hit where I was and knocked me back. The weapon fell out of my hand and skidded away from me. As I got up I saw Saito pick it up. He armed the weapon and fired at the Golem, blasting it to pieces.

I got up and walked over to the 2 kids as the dust settled.

"Ok, how the fuck do you know how to use that?" I asked Saito. "In fact, what the fuck is that doing here?" I demanded. All of a sudden, Kirche ran up to Saito and practically groped the kid.

"He's a commoner but he can use the staff of destruction, you really are my darling." She started rubbing against him. I was half tempted to say get some but there were more important thing to worry about. At least the so called staff of destruction is no longer dangerous. Longueville walked over and picked up the staff. Great, I know exactly what's going to happen next, call it a hunch.

"Great job." She said. "Staff of destruction describes it well enough." She said.

"Miss Longueville, where have you been?" Louise asked.

"Let me guess." I said. "You what's her face, the thief, right?" She nodded and the others gasped.

"Your, Fouquet?" Saito said.

"Don't move." Fouquet aimed the weapon as Saito turned to get his sword. "Even though I stole it I was in a bind because I didn't know how it worked."

"So you thought that by luring us here you would find out how to work it?" I asked.

"Something along those lines." She said. "I knew the Familiar over there would pull it off, after all what can you expect from Gandalf."

"Who's Gandalf?" Louise asked.

"So this is the part where we all die?" I asked.

"Your very perceptive, too bad I have to kill you." I laughed and she cocked an eye brow. "What's so funny?"

"That thing is not called the staff of destruction." I said.

"And what is it then? Did you not just see what it did?" I chuckled again.

"It's from my country." I said.

"Ah yes, the commoner country, how quaint." She said.

"Since we lack magic we use science in its place." She tilted her head.

"And what has that pathetic belief given your people?" I hope she never meets an Atheist.

"That weapon is called the M72 LAW Light Anti-Armor Weapon that fires a 66 mm unguided Anti-Tank rocket. It was designed by Norway and is the standard issue light artillery weapon for the US Marines." I said as everyone stared at me. "It's also a disposable system."

"What does that mean?" Fouquet asked.

"Imagine a bow with no arrow." Her eye's widened. She pressed the button and nothing happened. Thinking quickly I grabbed my pistol from its holster and put a round right in the center of her thigh, breaking her thigh bone in half and preventing her from walking. She screamed and fell over.

"That damn weapon!" She said. I walked up to her and curb stomped her face, knocking her out.

"That was easy." I said, ejecting the mag and bullet put the bullet back into the mag and reloaded the gun. I have to make sure there is no bullet in the chamber.

"The US still uses LAWS?" Saito asked. "I thought they used AT4s and Javelins." I nodded.

"They do, but the LAW is still used today. AT4s and Javelins are heavy and cumbersome. Although a LAW is not match for modern tanks, it is very good against light vehicles and fortified positions, which is why the Marines still use it. The latest model is the M72E10, not much different but more improved." Saito nodded.

I went down to Fouquet and used a rope to tie her hands. I than hoisted her over my shoulder and went to the cart.

"Anyone know how to ride this thing?" I asked.

**End Chapter 4 **

I'm sorry for the long wait. A lot of crap has happened lately but I hope to be able to pick up speed in the future.

I also have some things from you guys. First off, some people need me to explain why Riptide is so perceptive.

I thought this was self explanatory but here goes, With his knowledge in history and things like that, Riptide has College level intelligence. He is a commander and as such an officer. To become an officer you need your associates degree. Also, he is a SEAL. Their moddo is attention to Detail. When it comes to things that do not involve being a SEAL Riptide has college level intelligence. Weapons, explosives, languages, Military Tactics, cultural knowledge, medicine, radios, etc, all SEALs must be experts at this. SEAL are even taught Nuclear engineering in case they need to diffuse a Nuke. SEALs are not grunts, they are the most well trained Tier 2 unit in the US, possibly the world (But that's debatable). Even Marines, who are considered dumb asses have high school or college level intelligence. You need a high school diploma or even a GED+15 college credits to get in at all. A lot of the stuff mentioned is high school level knowledge.


	5. Chapter 5: New Information

**Chapter 5: New information **

The ride back was kind of uneventful. All SEALs have medic training so fixing up the woman's leg was pretty easy. The bone was shattered and she would probably never walk well again. Other than that the 9MM doesn't pack very much punch, so there is minor skin and muscle damage. Just a neat hole in her leg that is easy to fix.

The others were looking at the scene with disgust and horror, guess they have never seen this much blood before.

"How in Tristian did you manage to do that?" Kirche asked.

"It's not all that different from a musket." I said as I placed Foquette down on the bench.

"That's not what I mean." Kirche said. She pointed to my CQBR. "You fired without reloading, many times in fact. How did you do that?" She crossed her arms over her huge chest.

"This is an M4A1 Close Quarters Battle Rifle, or CQBR." I brought it out. "It trade range for maneuverability and fires the 6.8 round. It is a gas operated, magazine fed Assault Rifle that is capable of firing at 600 to 900 rounds a minute." Everyone, except Saito, looked at me with amazement.

"It can shoot 600 bullets a minute?" Louise asked.

"No, rounds not bullets. Big difference." I said while placing my gun away.

"Why is it so short though? Even your other musket is too short. Isn't that bad for the accuracy?" Kirche asked.

"Yea, aren't M4s supposed to have a longer barrel, and why does your M14 have a pistol grip?" Saito asked as he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

"You know a bit about guns?" I asked while I took out my pistol.

"Some what." Saito said with a bit of smugness.

"To answer Kirches question." I began while starting to disassemble the pistol. "Like I said, it trades accuracy for maneuverability, so I can fight in houses without having to draw a blade or side arm, and a side arm is my pistol." I took out my cleaning kit and began cleaning the gun, starting with the most important part, the feeding mechanism. "For Saito, since he knows more about it, it is a CQBR, like I said. For most Spec-Ops missions, even though the M4 is shorter than an M16, but it still lacks the maneuverability of an Mp5 or 7." I started the magazine well now. "Not to mention pistol rounds are not good against armor, so with the shorter barrel of a CQBR, I have good maneuverability and a powerful round. Not to mention it has a 6.8 round."

"What is that?" Saito asked.

"It's an in between of a 7.62 and a 5.56. More powerful and a 5.56, more accurate than a 7.62." Saito nodded. I finished cleaning the inside and reassembled the weapon.

"So what will happen to her?" Louise refered to the green haired bitch.

"I don't know, once I'm finished my interrogation I will continue my mission. If things go well I can be back home soon." I said, I started to clean my CQBR now.

"Where do you live?" Louise asked.

"I would rather not say, but it is far away from here." They seemed to accept it but had a look of caution about them. "So Saito, how do you know French? I didn't know they taught that language in Japan." I asked him as he looked right at me.

"What? We're speaking Japanese." Saito said. I stopped cleaning and just stared at him.

"What are you talking about? Your speaking French right now." I said.

"No, your speaking Japanese." Saito said.

"What do you mean, I don't even know Japanese, there is no way you are speaking it right now. If you were I wouldn't be able to understand you." I said with a bit of irritation.

"Oh, that was me, I accidentally used a translation spell when I tried to shut him up." Louise said.

"Naturally." How does one cope with this? I keep having a hard time believing in this magic thing. Maybe a few drinks will help me out. When I get back I need to tell Osmond to hook me up with some booze.

The girl was escorted to the brig when we got back and I told everyone that I would catch up. I wanted to speak to Osmond alone about the LAW that he was keeping. It kind of scares me to think that if they had the guts to use an anti-tank rocket, I'd hate to imagine if they ever found out how to use a nuke. My mission just got a whole lot tougher. I made a mental not to radio command to send in my squad when this is over. After all, what's a Sniper without a spotter?

The meeting took about ten minutes, and when Saito left I walked in to meet with Osmond.

"Ah, Riptide, good to see you unharmed. I must thank you for catching the thief, despite who she was. You have my gratitude and I am in debted to you." Osmond said with a slight bow of the head.

"No problem. However, I would like to cash in that debt of yours." I said. Osmond folded his hands under his chin and rested them on his desk, a clear sign that he is intently listening.

"Ofcourse, for your actions towards Tristain, you will be granted anything you desire." Osmond said in a professional tone.

"How did you get that staff?" I asked as I sat down on a chair that was in front of his desk.

"I will answer that question if you answer one of mine." I nodded and motioned for him to continue. "The boy, Saito said that weapon was from his world, the world Ms. Louise summoned him from. I must know if you are from that world and if so does your king know of our world?" Osmond said with a gleam in his eye that seemed to speak of years of wisdom behind those dull old eyes. I inhaled a deep breath before replying.

"You must understand that I am a soldier, as such I am unable to answer that question, or I risk treason and betraying my country. I will say that we do not intend you harm without being provoked. Our weapons are simply to great for your people to understand, your people are still not as advanced in time as mine are. That M27 LAW, or the staff of destruction as you called it, is like a childs spell compared to our more powerful weapons." I said in a serious tone.

"How powerful are your bigger spells?" Osmond asked as his eyes narrowed in a curious and cautious stare.

"They can destroy entire mountains sir." I said, keeping with Osmonds assumption that our technology is magical instead of scientific.

"I see." Osmond said as he closed his eyes in thought to help digest the information I have given him. "Well, if your kingdom can produce men as noble as you than I will trust them to do their job and to aid Tristain, and possibly all of Halkeginia in these troubled times." I nodded and stood up.

"If I may ask, would it be possible to interrogate the prisoner? I need information out of her and it would greatly aid in my mission." I said. Osmond nodded.

"I will inform my guards of this, at midnight you may enter and do as you please. All we ask is that you do not do any permanent damage so she may be properly tried and executed." That actually sounded kind of kinky. After mentally laughing at my own joke I turned away and walked towards the door. Before exiting I turned to Osmond once more, who seemed to sense my intentions as his head lifted slightly to look at me.

"One last thing, I need to borrow transportation to the palace in order to meet with the Princess. Would it be too much to ask for one?" I asked.

"Of course, it will be ready for you at the gate tomorrow at noon." I nodded my thanks and walked off.

I saw Saito walking down that hall towards me and waved him to come here. He had a sad look on his face and didn't pay attention to anything but he saw my hand and hurried over.

"What's with the face?" I asked as I pointed to his frown. He slumped his shoulders and sighed, it was long and drawn out, a clear sign of depression.

"I just thought there would be a way for me to get home, but I guess I won't be able too." He said. Can you blame me for feeling bad for the kid?

"Look, it's not much but I will do everything in my power to get you home. My superiors say they have found a way to make transport much easier and with any luck I can get you home." It's amazing how bi-polar teenagers are. One minute he looks like he was rejected by the girl of his dreams, now he looks like he got a new I-phone.

"You think you can do that?" He practically screamed as he started jumping around.

"Hey, I said no promises." Sometimes it's like Teens only here what they like in a sentence and block the rest out. I can't believe I was like that at one point. "On another note, how the fuck did you do those moves with that sword? I've never seen anything with that kind of skill outside of Spec-Ops training." I said with my arms folded and a glare that said 'Answer my question or I break your neck'. Some things you learn as a soldier just become a habit I guess. It seemed to work though, Saito looked like he just got caught smoking in the boys bathroom and looked fearfully at me. Not that I meant to do that mind you.

"I don't know, it just kind of happened. When I'm fighting for my life this tattoo on my hand glows and I suddenly know how to fight. I wasn't even that good before, I barely passed PE in school." He said with a very good poker face. I have to admit, most people stutter when I am serious like that, I'm impressed.

"Fuck you all and your fucking magic." I said as my eyes narrowed. "I mean, I had to go through years of the hardest training in my life only to be out done by a kid with a fancy tattoo. I hate this place." I growled the last part silently. Saito just said "yep" in a sarcastic tone and I just flipped him off. Getting serious again, I decided to do something for the kid. "How about this, I'm leaving noon tomorrow so I can show you some of the basics of CQC (Close Quarters Combat) incase you are ever in a position where your Harry Potter crap doesn't work." Saito thought on my offer for a moment.

"Yea sure, that sounds fun." He finally agreed.

"Meet me in the courtyard at the first sign of dawn." I said to him and walked away.

After some help from the guards I was escorted to the brig where they kept the thief. She was now fully awake and sitting with her wounded leg straightened out to allow blood circulation.

"Was up bitch." I said in english, again not knowing how to curse in French.

"I am not looking up if that's what your asking." She said in flawless english. What the fuck? I thought they only spoke French here.

(Authors Note: I am changing how the world works slightly. There will be different languages because Albion was based off of England, Germania off of Germany and Romalia off of Italy (Or Rome). As such, they will be speaking their respective languages, just to add more depth to the world).

"So you people can speak English was well." I said to her while looking through the small bars in the door.

"I do not know what 'Ingish' is but what I am speaking is the Albian language." She said while narrowing her eyes at me. I opened the door and walked in, making sure that the guard locked the door behind me so I can have my personal time with the prisoner. Honestly, the way I said that is starting to sound like a bad porno hehe. Putting away any erotic thoughts I walked up to her and stepped on her wounded leg right where the bandaged part was. As expected he let out a long and loud scream.

"I'll let you know when I give a shit." I said while applying a bit more pressure on the wound. "I have some questions and it would be in your best interest to tell me everything I want to know in detail, we clear?" I asked her as her scream was replaced by a loud groan/growl.

"Clear as a crystal." I smirked and took my foot off her leg. I went don on one knee and glared at her with one of my best intimidating looks. I showed no sympathy or kindness to her, making her feel frightened and helpless. A useful skill in interrogation.

"On my way here I found some people that robbed the Princess." I said as Longueville glared at me.

"I hardly see how that..." I cut her off before she could say anything.

"They were using some kind of strange musket, one only found where I am from. Now I know without a doubt that some of our supplies were left in Albion. I'd be willing to bet that your people stole our tech and created this cheap ass carbon copy of a thing. What I want from you is names of the people involved and locations of everything that was taken and any type of factory producing your copy cat stuff. We clear?" I said. Longueville spat in my face and glared at me some more. Taking out my knife I gently poked her wound with it. Ofcourse it got another yell of pain from her. "I have all night with this, so what will it take? Maybe hack a few limbs, a nose or knock all your teeth out?" Ofcourse I would not do that, honoring my promise with Osmond, but she doesn't know that.

"I don't know anything about that. Oliver Cromwell is the one in charge of that whole thing." Longueville strained to say from the pain. "He's planning to Usurp the Throne from the current Prince. He also wanted to assassinate Henrietta to weaken Tristain." I put my knife away.

"Then I'll have to pay a visit to this Cromwell guy." I walked out of the cell leaving her with a newly bleeding wound. That was easier than expected, but no doubt it will be a great amount of help. unfortunately, I can't just barge in and interrogate this Cromwell guy, it would be an act of war when the the Red, White and Blue get here. I am not a fan of all out wars. The local terrorist group and criminal organization is fine but an all out war with a powerful Nation? Even though we would have no trouble if things get rough, I don't want to condemn an entire kingdom of people to eradication. Political sympathy would help the occupation be humanitarian but their government would be destroyed. Not exactly the kind of welcome you want if your the new kid on the block. That is kind of literally since the US is one of the youngest Nations in the world, well our world.

I went back to my room and decided to get some sleep. Since I was helping Saito out I would have to get up at roughly 5:00 hours. Giving me around 4 hours of sleep. Not much but I'm used to long days.

The next morning I went down to the courtyard and started doing basic exercises. Pushups, situps and so on. To start out light I did 100 of each in 5 sets. It's amazing how easy this has gotten.

I saw Saito walking over here with Siesta next to him. They seemed to be talking about whatever kids talk about and Siesta was blushing slightly. Didn't take much to find out she had a crush on him. When Saito got here I told him to do some basic stretches and exercises. Although I made him do 20 situps and pushups because I doubt he could do 100. My theory proved right because after 10 he was struggling with the rest. After 20 minutes we finished and I began teaching him the basics.

"CQC is a very direct and easy Martial Art. Others, like Kung Fu and Karate often involve a lot of motions and wind ups to use. In a fight this can leave you open to an attack. The idea is simple, use the least amount of work for the best possible result, the foundations of our Military." I said while pacing like a Drill Instructor.

"Wait, you mean your Military doesn't work?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Why send in 1000 troops to take out a target when you can send 50 well trained SEALs or Rangers to do it for you? Same result, less work. Why send in troops who could get killed against a Sniper when you can simply order an airstrike to take out the building he's in? Don't work hard, work smart. CQC follows the same principle, why do a complicated move to break someones are when you can do 1 simple move to throw him to the ground and knock him out? You don't need to kill your opponent sometimes, just knocking him out is enough." Saito nodded, telling me he understood.

"So what should I do?" He asked. I got into a basic fighting stance and motioned him to attack.

"Show me what you got." I told him. He looked a little frightened at first but came at me, trying poorly to mimic my stance. He threw a right roundhouse punch and I blocked it, making our fore arms hit and causing him a bit of pain. In one motions I grabbed his elbow with my left hand and kneed him in the gut with just enough force for him to feel it but not hurt or make him winded. I grabbed the back of his head with my right hand and flipped him, using my arms like opening a hatch. He flipped to his back and I backed up from him. He got up slowly but except for some dirt on his cloths he's fine. Come to think of it I swear I heard Siesta scream when he went down.

"That was intense." Saito said while dusting off his cloths from the small layer of dirt that accumulated on him.

"If I wanted to I could have broken your neck or arm. If I actually connected that knee you would barely be breathing right now." I told him.

The next 3 hours went in this fashion, I showed him a move, taught him it and we sparred for a bit. Truth be told it was very fun and enjoyable. Saito is a good kid, he defiantly has potential to be a great fighter. He almost seems to know the moves and picks them up very quickly. He's far from actual non-magical combat but with time and training he would become a great warrior. Him fighting for Louise told me that he will be great one day, any man willing to lay his life down for someone he cares about earns points in my book. If things were different he would have made a great Special Operator.

"You did good kid." I told him as he was gasping for breath. That small layer of dirt quadrupled all over him while I only had a small layer of dirt and sweat dripping down and wetting my T-shirt. The slight chill of the wind sent shivers down my spine and made me feel cold and slightly clammy.

"Thanks, so where are you off to now?" Saito asked.

"That's classified." I told him as I put my combat shirt and gear back on, getting ready for the trip to the palace.

"Of course it is, damn American." Saito said while glaring at the back of my head.

"Why does everyone insult Canada?" I asked him in mock hurt.

"No, America, not Canada. Guess that shows how thick most Americans are hehe." Saito chuckled at his own joke.

"Calling the US America is like calling France a European country. While it is European, it is not specific enough. America can refer to anything, don't forget there are dozens of countries in North and South America. Mexico, Cuba, the US, Canada and so on. Try being more specific next time." I walked away with a smirk as he stuttered to find a come back. I knew the kid meant no disrespect, well to America at least. He probably just really hated me.

I saw the cart and got in, I told the driver to go and we were off to the castle of Tristain. Remember that 6TH sense I said that all Snipers have, it was going off now. Something interesting is going to be happening soon.

**End Chapter 5 **

Sorry for the delay, computer problems. Again, please R&R. Any questions or suggestions are welcomed.


	6. Chapter 6: More Assassins

**Chapter 6: More Assassins**

It took roughly an hour to get to the palace. I spent most of the time going over my gear and cleaning my weapons again. The basic manual for the AR-15 series of guns is that you must clean it a minimum of 4 times during the day. Because of the alloys used, the tight fit of all the parts and the complexity of the design it needs to be perfectly clean to work properly. A small price to pay for excellent performance.

Most people have asked me why I stick with the M4 and M16 in missions. There are other models out there, the H&K 416 and the ACR are better guns. They make a fair point but I see it like this, this gun has never failed me before. Every time I stake my life on this gun it pulls through. It has jammed on me many times in my missions but not once has it failed when I really needed it. Maybe I'm being sentimental but so what, this gun is a marvel of its kind. It is the first gun in history to be made of something other than Iron. Other guns, like the MP-40 and Grease gun used parts made of plastic, but their core design was still Iron and Steel. Something the AR got rid of in early testing.

Guess I'm starting to ramble. Back to the real world, in a manner of speaking, I arrived through the gates of the Palace. It took a few moments of traveling a long hallway but I reached the throne room which was empty with the exception of the Princess and some of her guards dressed in a very unique type of armor. They all had muskets and most if not all of them were female. The one who stood out the most was a blonde haired woman with a very unimpressed look as she stared at me and my "Muskets" as I no doubt think she would call them that.

The muskets her guards carried were very... crappy. They had a very large barrel and a huge banana like bell peal at the end of it. I would be willing to bet that even an expert with years of experience and training could only get that to be accurate at 50 yards, and that's being nice about the estimates. It is the reason they used formation warfare in the 15 to 1800s. Law of averages, you put enough lead in the air it's bound to hit something. Ironically, that is the same philosophy that gave rise to the assault rifle.

"Hello Sir Riptide." Henrietta greeted as the blonde haired guard glared at me with a cautious look that meant she was ready for anything that I would try. I could see her hand holding the grip of a type of flint lock pistol in its holster. Her other hand rested on the scabbard of her sword, which looked like a crusade straight sword. I knew this technique, when I studied with the SAS in training missions I learned of an old 16TH century technique used by many well trained generals. First you draw your pistol and take a shot right at the torso, than you drew a sword and run it through an opponent. This is really only effective with Rapiers because of the speed of the blade.

"Hello Princess, how are you." I greeted back in a bow. "I am calling in that favor you owe me." I said with a respectful tone. The blonde haired guard did not take it in such a way though.

"How dare you command the Princess in such a way, she does not take orders from a lowly servant." Like I said, I hate monarchies.

"That is enough Agnes, had this man not been on the road I would be dead." Henrietta said in a commanding but fair tone. A kind of tone that a sibling or mother would make. Reluctantly the woman, Agnes, stood down and loosened her grip on her pistol.

"After interrogating the thief, I found out that there was an attempt on your life. A man by the name of Oliver Cromwell ordered an Assassination on you with the intent to weaken Tristain. He has also ordered an attempt on the Prince of Albion in order to overthrow the current Albion monarchy and start a war with Tristain. With no queen or heir Albion would make quick work of Tristain." Henrietta had a look of horror strike her youthful face. I could hear a slight gasp coming from the guards as well.

"Are you sure of this?" She asked me with a bit of hope that everything I said was some kind of cruel and sick joke. It almost hurt me to say, but I nodded my head.

"He has acquired very powerful weapons. Weapons that can allow an army that is outnumbered 50 to 1 to win with little effort." I said in a very dreading tone, effectively escalating the seriousness of the situation.

"I see." Henrietta looked at her lap with sorrow. Her gaze shifted back to me. "What kind of weapons do they have?" I could see her knuckles turn wight as she gripped her dress tightly in her lap, her breathing was also slightly shallow and quick. All of these classic signs of nervousness and apprehension.

"Current intel suggests that they have those strange muskets, much like the men who tried to assassinate you." I said. "Worse case scenario they learn how to engineer other weapons, like howitzers and chemical weapons. Howitzers are a type of highly effective mobile cannon that can fire with impressive rate and accuracy." I told her.

"What muskets?" Agnes asked both me and Henrietta. I responded before Henrietta did.

"This is an M4 CQBR." I held up my gun. "Albion found a version of this weapon and created their own version." Agnes stopped herself from laughing.

"And what can that pathetic excuse of a musket do? Look at how short it is and the barrel is tiny. Must shoot tiny pebbles." Agnes laughed at her own joke. Many flint lock muskets fired a .60 caliber round. Ironically it was bigger than the .50 cal round (Round, meaning the bullet itself, not the cartridge) the US used, but traveled at subsonic speeds. Since modern bullets go supersonic they can afford to get smaller.

"This can hit a human sized target at 1,200 feet away, or 400 yards." I said to her. "If their's can even remotely perform the same as this than you are in some deep shit." Once again Agnes laughed.

"And who would believe such lies, a musket could never reach past a couple dozen feet." She said.

"Believe what you wish." I said, shifting my gaze back to the princess. "Either way, I need to go to Albion now and get those weapons. Trust me, it would be a bad idea for them to have it." I told the Princess.

"So be it, I am sending Louise and her Familiar to Albion, to get a letter I sent to Prince Wales and destroy it." She said.

"What is so important about the letter?" I asked her with a tone that clearly showed my curiosity.

"I am getting married to a noble family in Germania soon, and that letter must not be shown to the world or else the wedding would be called off. We need Germanias aid to protect my small country." Henrietta said with a look of shame. What could be in the letter. From what I heard she and Prince Wales were cousins. It doesn't matter, if it gets me into Albion.

"When do I leave?" I asked.

"Lord Wardes will go and get Saito and Louise, he should be back by tomorrow at which point you will travel by horse to Albion." Henrietta said. I am getting slightly annoyed with this whole waiting thing.

"Fine, where do I rest at?" I asked the Princess, I gave her a slight attitude without realizing it, a fact Agnes had to remind me of once again.

"You may have saved the Princesses life but I will not tolerate you giving her majesty such a vulgar attitude." She put her hand on the hilt of her sword and prepared to draw it.

"Princess, if she does not stand down I will be forced to defend myself." I stated clearly at the Princess but never taking my eyes off of Agnes chest. Not because I was looking at her bust, which were great by the way, but because you always focus at a person chest so you can see their hands and feet easily to be able to react quickly to any situation.

"Agnes, I told you enough!" Henrietta stated forcefully again, but I still couldn't take her seriously. Although she tried to sound like a leader, her voice betrayed the kind and selfless attitude that a lot of Military leaders don't have. She would make a great queen, but I would suggest she stay out of warfare. Once again Agnes reluctantly stood down. "Sir. Riptide, I will allow you to have a room in one of our guest areas to rest. You are allowed in any area you wish with the exception of the war room and our supply area's." She said, her voice returning to a sweet and innocent voice that I was used to hearing. I nodded to her and walked away.

I went to the Palace courtyard to rest for a while. I was getting tired and decided to use another MRE. I still had plenty but I didn't feel like anything fancy right now. Something was just itching at me the wrong way. I was in a heightened state of alert, I feel like something is not right. It's hard to describe but it feels like what will happen in the next few days may lead to something big. Most people would call me paranoid but I have learned to trust this feeling.

All of a sudden I heard a beeping. I looked through my bag and saw my Radio. It was beeping so I hit the on switch and held down the button...

"This is Commander Riptide, over." I said as clearly as I could. For a few seconds there was static but I managed to hear voices and the static cleared up.

_"Riptide this is Command, we have managed to find a way to talk in real time. We only have a 40 minute window at the moment, we will brief how in a later message." _The Fucking bastards actually did it. I'm really impressed, hopefully they can send reinforcements soon. _"We are able to achieve this by traveling at roughly 3,000 KM/H"_ That would translate to around 2,000 MPH. Not exactly but it is an estimate. One of the only Aircraft capable of such speed is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird stealth aircraft. _We are planning to send allies through the gate. unfortunately due to the current restriction in speed, which has halted at this speed, we won't be able to send anything more than light armored vehicles and no more than a dozen men at a time. We need a full report from you, friendly allies, if anyone who has taken the weapons and the possibility of establishing relations between our Nations. Over" _

"Command, I have already established relations with one of the local groups. The small country of Tristain owes me a favor. I managed to save the local Princess and leader from Assassination. As such she respects me and has taken an interest in our culture. I will speak to her about making relations with the US and possibly NATO forces. There is a trade off however, Tristian is a relatively weak Nation and depends on alliances with larger Nations to keep from being invaded. If you want me to make a former declaration of peace and tell her about a possible meeting with NATO officials than I will do so. Over." Once again there was a few moments of static than a reply.

_"Understood Commander, you are to approach this Princess and tell her to expect a meeting with NATO officials. We will have representatives of the US, UK and Canada. Those are our only allies who know of this at the moment. Within the next week or so we will send US and UK paratroopers. The following day we will send officials for a meeting at the coordinates you will give us. We are sending troops first so as not to leave the suits unprotected, make sure the Princess is unaware of this. They will parachute a few clicks away at night to be concealed. We need to keep some of our assets a secret"_

_"What have you discovered with regards to the missing weapon? Over."_

"I can confirm that Albion has taken weapons and are mass producing them. A second faction has tried to overthrow the current regime and tried to assassinate the Princess of Tristain. If we ally with Tristain we will no doubt eventually go to war with them. If you are unable to send greater forces we may get over whelmed, even with superior firepower. Also, the ways of war here are very old. Stand in massive rows, play fair etc. This world will no doubt hate our hybrid warfare strategy and will consider us cowards. I leave how to proceed up to you. Finally, I will give the Princess our request for an alliance. Over" The signal went dead after that.

In the corner of my eye I saw Henrietta and Agnes walking in the courtyard. I picked myself up and walked over to her.

"Princess Henrietta." I called out to her. She turned to me and smiled with a polite greeting. "I have urgent news that I must speak with you."

"What is it?" Henrietta asked me with a look of curiosity.

"I managed to get in touch with my superiors." I said when Agnes butted in again.

"How did you do that?" She asked with a scowl.

"Magic." I shrugged. She seemed to take it and backed off. What is her problem? Anyway, I love the whole magic excuse, even though it is real here. I'll have to give them a report about that.

"So what did they say?" Henrietta asked.

"They want to request an alliance with Tristain." I stated bluntly, giving her a moment to digest the information before continuing. "We will send troops here within the week. It will first be some soldiers and than Representatives of my land will come as well the following day." Henrietta looked at me with a bit of hope.

"Do you mind if you tell me this countries name?" Henrietta asked.

"Well, we are not one single kingdom. We are called the UN, or the United Nations. We are a group of multiple countries, not unlike this place." I told her gesturing to all around me. Henrietta nodded to me.

"What is your kingdom like?" She asked. I knew I had to be careful, I didn't want to reveal too much.

"My country is called the United States of America. It is widely considered the strongest super power in the world. Officials from the United Kingdom, one of our allies will also join in this. Finally there is Canada, another one of our allies." You know what I just noticed. United Nations, United States, United Kingdom, our society really likes the word United, don't we.

"How powerful is your country?" Henrietta asked.

"I'd say about as powerful as Germania. We are pretty strong." I didn't really want to boast about it. Saying we were 10X tougher would be a huge problem. Best to make the people of this world not too wary of us but at the same time not underestimate us. It would be bad if we were in a position to have to actually show our power in order to not be bullied.

"Who would you like to marry than?" My eyes practically bugged out of my head. Marry? What is that supposed to mean?

"Wait, what? What do you mean who would I like to marry?" I asked with a bit of a stutter. I mean, how would you feel if someone seriously asked you who you wanted to marry? Henrietta looked at me with confusion.

"I have been promised to a family in Germania so I would not be available, however there are many young noble women to choose from to strengthen the alliance of our Kingdoms." Henrietta let out a slight giggle as if she thought of me as a child who was trying to find the answer to a math problem.

"No no, that's not how we work." I told her while waving my hands like a football official saying no good on a field goal.

"Than how do you work" Henrietta asked me with confusion in her voice.

"We keep alliances with trade. Basically, we give you stuff, you give us stuff and we cool. We will aid each other no matter what and as long as your kingdom does nothing to betray us we will never have any problems. It's the reason we never went to war with China, another country where we're from." Yea, if you think about it, China is a communist country, NATO are a bunch of capitalists. If the US ever breaks trading ties with China it could start a WW3. After all, China did aid the Soviets in the Cold War.

"I see, so there would be no marriage with nobles of your land?" Henrietta asked.

"No, besides, I'm not exactly what you would call a noble, I'm just a commander." I said as Henrietta once again did that giggle.

"Don't be silly, the only way to advance to such a rank is to be a noble. Commoners are simply not capable of being leaders. You don't have to be so modest " She said that in such an innocent tone. Most people would call her stuck up, but with the kind of person she is I doubt it's like that. I guess it's really is just the natural order of things here.

"I suppose your right." I said with a half nod. Might as well play along, after all, I'd hate to be labeled as a commoner here. "Well, that is all I have to say at the moment. I hope that..." Suddenly something hard hit my chest. It felt like someone punched me right in the chest. I stumbled back a bit but than heard a loud bang. It was a gunshot and it came from somewhere behind the Princess. The thing that hit me must have been a bullet. Luckily the boys in the white lab coats knew their stuff. The Dragon skin armor saved my life and managed to stop the bullet.

I grabbed the Princess and dove with her in my arms behind a bush. It wouldn't offer much protection but it would make us harder to hit. Agnes drew her flint lock pistol and looked around for whatever made that sound. I could see a gun peaking out of one of the windows in the tower right above the courtyard, roughly 100 feet up.

Letting instinct take me over I pulled out my CQBR and put a 6.8 in the chamber. I put it into Semi-Auto and let loose 7 fast shots to lay down suppressing firepower. I didn't try to even hit the target, just to make him take cover to make some breathing room for me. I looked through my scope to get a look at the attacker. He stuck the weapon out again and was about to shoot me.

I pulled the trigger but I heard a click. A second later I heard a thump behind me and than the bang of the shot. That thing was going supersonic. I would hear the bullet hit the ground before the bang because it was going faster than the speed of sound. Muskets can't do that. I turned the gun on the side to get a look in the chamber and saw that the bolt was closed. I grabbed the charging handle and cocked it back to eject a bullet. Aiming again I saw the gun peak out again. I fired and hit the guy. I couldn't tell if I hit him or the gun though.

In a heart beat I raced over to the entrance of the tower and began to climb the spiraling stairs with Agnes right behind me. The queen should be safe as long as the Assassin was caught quickly. My gun never left my shoulder and was always pointing in the direction I was going. I reached a doorway and charged through. I quickly looked at the left corner and did a 180 sweep until I hit the right corner. I saw a bit of shrapnel on the floor by the window but the assassin must have fled. Since the downstairs were covered all he could do was run up.

Turning for the doorway I rushed up the stairs again. After reaching the top it looked like an attic. There were no windows and the only lights came from cracks in the wooden roof. Steadying my breath I slowly inched forward, making sure to keep my finger off the trigger. Even in situations like this you don't want a twitchy finger on the trigger. That is the best way to get killed.

I heard a creak to the left of me and turned to see the but of a gun go straight into my face. It hit my forehead and I fell on my back from the impact. With no ballistic helmet I was seeing stars and could barely register what happened. The man than got on top of me and pulled out a knife and stabbed me in my chest. Once again my dragon skin saved my life.

I gave 3 quick palm thrusts to his head making him stumble back. I spun on my back, using my legs to generate momentum and got back onto my feet. I got into a CQC stance and looked right at my opponent who seemed to be oriented after the hits. In the darkness all I could make out were subtle shapes and with my vision swimming from the hit it made it hard to make out any detail.

I saw a flash of glint and the sound of a sword unsheathing and saw Agnes charge at the man, about to strike his back. The man stepped to the side and dodged a thrust while extending his arm to make Agnes run into his arm. He grabbed her collar and headbutted her hard on the head and that must have knocked her unconscious. She most likely didn't expect something like that, if she did I'm sure she would still be up.

I reached for my side arm but found the pouch empty. I looked in the assassins left hand and saw my gun. He pushed the slide back and dis-assembled the gun with no trouble. I was dealing with someone who knew how my weapons worked, how is that possible?

He charged at me and tried to tackle me like a football player. I shifted my weight forward and dug my feet in to stop him from over powering me. I elbowed his back and kneed him in the stomach. I than threw him off to the side of me but the man quickly recovered from the hits.

We waited for a second again, waiting for the next man to make his move. He pulled out another knife and pointed it towards me. Call me paranoid but I didn't like what was about to happen. All of a sudden the blade flew out of his hand and hit me in the lower abdomen. unfortunately the dragon skin vest only went down to my belly button so that area was unprotected. It dug right into my right side, luckily though I think it missed all my vitals. Even with this worlds archaic medicines I should be fine. What I'm worried about is that, that was a ballistic knife, they were only used by the Spetznaz, at least to my knowledge.

I decided to fuck it and charge head first into the assassin. I tackled him like a football, pay back bitch, and he was not prepared. We went tumbling down the spiral stairs and stopped roughly 10 steps down. I stared directly into the mans face, the light level returned thanks to a window to the left of us. Both of our eyes shot right open, both of us looked like a fish, trying to utter words that wouldn't come.

This man was not from here, I looked on his left arm and it just mystified me more, while he was surprised by what I was wearing. This man was a...

**End Chapter 6 **

Cliff hangers are a bitch, aren't they.


	7. Chapter 7: New Plan

**Chapter 7: New Plan**

"After that, the damn thing was shot in the ass and ran into the woods. Never saw that dog again." Me and Saito shared a laugh while on the back of a horse, following some musketeer looking guy named Wardes. We have been traveling for sometime know and my ass was hurting from the long ride.

"Man, how pissed was your girlfriend?" Saito asked while trying to control his laughter.

"Had my balls in my hip for the next 3 weeks for that." I said. Interesting story of how I shot my girlfriends dog in the ass. I do feel bad about it but looking back it was funny as hell. It wasn't a gun mind you, it was a plastic BB gun, didn't even break the animals skin.

"I know the feeling." Saito said looking at Louise with a bit of fear.

"I know she has you whipped but I didn't think you were in to that." I said with a small smirk. Saito looked at me with a confused expression.

"What do you mean?" Saito asked.

"You know, she whips you, chains you, probably gags you. I did experimenting to as a teen but I was never the submissive." I laughed as his expression turned from confusion to embarrassed.

"No no, she just treats me like a slave." He said, not realizing he dug another foot in his own grave.

"That's generally the idea." I laughed. "Do you call her ma'am or mistress?" Saito looked as red as Kirche's hair.

"Enough you too, do not speak in such a vulgar manner while in the presence of Lord Wardes, Captain of the Griffin Knights." Guiche said from his horse.

"He doesn't look much like a Captain." I said turning to him and his bird horse thing. I'm kind of use to these things by now.

"Oh, and you would know mister Riptide?" Wardes asked me.

"Somewhat, I guess it's just the difference in our Military's." I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "I'm a Commander in my unit, a pretty high rank in platoon sized detachments 1 rank from captain."

"Well, in that case you'll do well to respect your superiors." I chuckled lightly to myself.

"Your not my superior, seeing as how I am a Commander from a different Military you can not show Rank against me. Not to mention you were born into your Rank, I actually had to work for it." I told him in a stern and confident voice, daring him to challenge me.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked me with a professional voice but it betrayed the small bit of Rage that he felt towards me.

"I was born into a poor family, you people can only get to such Ranks because of your birth into a noble family. I had to study and train for years, I had to defy the impossible on many missions. My Rank is due entirely to my skill and determination." I smirked.

"So you allow Commoners to become officers?" Wardes asked me with humor in his voice. "To think you would have such a weak Military. I guess that is why you wish for an alliance with Tristain, to make up for your lack of Military might."

"Sure, we'll go with that for now." I said sarcastically. Wardes laughed at me but I didn't care much. He'll see sooner or later.

After some time I turned to Saito and motioned for him to slow down so I could speak to him without the others over hearing. When we were far enough away I got his attention.

"I need to ask you something brat." I said as he looked at me with a blank face.

"Brat?" Saito asked me with an annoyed voice.

"Remember when we were attacked by that Golem and you used the M27?" Saito nodded. "Did you manage to find out how that got there?" Saito nodded.

"Yea, Osmond said that it was from a strange warrior many years ago, I think it was thirty." He put his hand under his chin, a sign of him being deep in thought to recall his conversation. "Why?" He turned to me again.

"I found another guy from our world." Saito's eyes shot up with Curiosity. "His code name was Shield and he was a member of the British Special Air Services." Saito was shocked.

"The SAS!? What are they doing here!?" Saito almost screamed drawing everyone's attentions. His head practically shrunk into his collar and they looked back ahead.

**Flashback **

_I went into the dungeons where they were holding the SAS commando in a small iron cell. I was allowed in and looked at the man who nearly killed me and the Princess._

_"Ello Govna." I greeted with mockery in my voice, in English for the record, not French._

_"Har har, very funny American. You do know we don't actually say that anymore, right? It's how poor people greeted the Rich back in the day." The man who I knew was named Shield said with a bored expression._

_"Want a spot of tea good sir?" I mocked again. He flipped me off while raddleing the chains connected to his wrist and the wall. "So Shield, I contacted my Superiors and the they told me that you were apart of the SAS team that went into Korea and was lost, correct?" Shield nodded. "Along with SAS Lieutenant Sword, 4 men from DEVGRU, 2 Delta operators and 6 Men of the United States Air Force who disappeared several months ago after a successful mission in Korea. From what I gather the bird went down in Albion, an Island to the north of our current position. You I gather are an Assassin of Albion who tried the Execute Henrietta, crowned Princess of the small Nation of Tristain. Mind filling in the details?" He nodded. We were both allies after all, no real reason to distrust one another._

_"I didn't want to get involved but we were unable to convince them to leave the plane alone so in order to gain their trust we needed to aid them. It was simple, assassinate a target and they give us back our plane. The rest of the men are trapped as prisoners, not much I can do. So I loaded my Semi-auto H&K 416 and set out on an assassination mission while my comrade stayed behind to deal with the political issue." I nodded as he explained the story. "Can't say I liked the idea of killing the girl, but whatever it takes to complete the mission." I nodded. Many people call us cold killers, but sometimes being the good guy is suicide. Anyone who knows about Operation Red-wing would know this. Spare an innocent civilian and you lose almost 2 dozen of the finest men around. "Mind if I ask who you are?" Shield asked._

_"Commander Riptide of SEAL Team 10. Although I am not Tier 1 I am under the command of J-SOC." Tier 1 is one of the ways we differentiate units. J-SOC (Joint Special Operations Command) commands the 3 big Spec-Ops teams. DEVGRU (SEAL Team 6), Army's Delta squad and the Air Force 24TH Special Tactics squadron are the ones in J-SOC. The SEALs, Green Berets and Para-Rescue are under SOCOM (Special Operations Command). Ironic that the Marine Corp doesn't have an official Spec-Ops unit in SOCOM or J-SOC. "I was sent here to recover the mission Data and report the status of the crew. I see I have a bit to tell my superiors."  
_

_"So what happens now" Shield asked. _

_"We have found a way to reliably travel from the two worlds, we are going to make an alliance with Tristain and set up an official force here. As for you, I can get you out of here, the Princess owes me for saving her, twice, so with a bit of convincing I can get you out of here. Seeing as how you were forced into the job I'm sure Henrietta will show mercy, it would also be beneficial to her in relations with the UK. To prevent political backlash I can even convince the Princess to keep you a secret. She is interested in an alliance with NATO just as much as we are." I informed Shield._

_"So you expect me to stay here until everyone gets here?" Shield said with an annoyed tone in his voice._

_"What's a Sniper without a Spotter? You and Sword were some of the best Snipers in your respective Teams, I could use an ally who knows what he's doing until my team gets here. What do you say?" Shield had a smirk on his face and nodded._

_"Anything to get my arse out of this shanty cell." Shield said, motioning to the chains on his wrist._

_"Good, I will inform Henrietta of this." I said and took my leave._

**End Flashback **_  
_

"And so I told him to meet me at La Rochette so that it would seem like I met him on the way. It wasn't easy convincing Henrietta though but she agreed to my request. Didn't go near him at all but I guess that's understandable." I told him while nursing my wound on my side. After the incident Henrietta had some of her healers patch me up. It was mostly gone but it still felt like hell.

"How did you convince Henrietta to let him go?" Saito asked.

"Not easy." I said as I recalled the talk I had with the purple haired Princess.

**Flashback **

_"You can not be serious, that man tried to kill her highness and you want to just let him go?" Agnes practically shouted in my ear and I swear I felt a bit of spit hit me. I personally think she did that on purpose though._

_"Commander, I must agree with my body guard, he tried to kill me and he injured you. Why would you want to release him without a proper trial?" Henrietta asked. I could tell that even though she was nearly killed she held no resentment for her assassin. She only wishes a fair trial for the man and she understands that he may be put to death. She will make a fine leader, not much of a General though. _

_"He was a third party man with an unavoidable interest. His comrades were held prisoner and he was forced to take the job. He is also a soldier for the UK, one of the new Nations that will be coming soon. This could cause severe political backlash if word got out that a soldier from your soon to be ally tried to assassinate you. Not to mention, he is in a similar style of Military and Rank as I am, his help would be a great aid to my mission. Seeing as how are missions have the same goal it would be wise to let him aid me. Not to mention he knows the whereabouts of the men and weapons I came here to get." I spoke with conviction and professionalism with my hands folded behind my back and my chest raised high. A sign of Militaristic respect to a fellow officer (Sort of)._

_"How do we know he is not in collaboration with the assassin your highness?" Agnes turned to Henrietta with a scowl on her face._

_"Than I suck at my job considering I saved her from 2 Assassinations. Use your head." I spoke with a professional tone that betrayed the minor insult to the blonde haired warrior. _

_"You could be trying to steal information." Agnes retorted hoping to get the upper hand._

_"Again, I suck at my job considering I am returning to Albion ,without having explored the castle, on my own merit. Not to mention, again I saved the Princess causing her to tighten security and making my stealing job harder. A kingdom without a leader and in an uproar is easier to break into than a powerful one." I said once again with a powerful tone. Agnes refused to stand down but Henrietta ordered her to stand down again._

_"What would you suggest Commander?" Henrietta said with a bit of hesitation, no doubt trying to be cautious of her next decision. I personally doubt she had to make a choice this important before in her life. _

_"You majesty." I began, using her official title to unconsciously show respect. "I have saved your life twice, once by the assassin we are talking about. I know this man, he is not an impostor, my superiors have confirmed it. He has a skill set that goes with mine like bread and butter. We both have the same mission, both from allied Nations and both have allies who are imprisoned. He acted out of desperation to save his comrades, something I know you should understand." Henrietta nodded at that and looked at Agnes and all her guards in the room. "I suggest that he be sent out earlier than me to the port that we will go to reach Albion, from there we will part ways from you and continue with the mission. If we arrive in time I will help in negotiations with our Nations. But I need his help because he is a Spotter and I am a Sniper, a deadly duo. The choice is your Princess, I know you will choose the best course of_ _action." _

**End Flashback**

"So after that Shield went ahead and we'll be meeting up at the port." Saito was listening with intrigue.

"Why are you telling me this? Isn't this top secret?" Saito asked.

"Good question, what I'm telling you isn't top secret. I can't tell you what I need to do in Albion but I can tell you some of the people I come into contact with." I said. "I guess part of it is that your really the only person I can relate to at the moment. Only difference is I came here of my own free will, you sort of bumbled into it." We shared a light hearted chuckle.

"So we're splitting up after we reach Albion?" Saito asked.

"That's the general idea, you have your job I have mine. We'll meet up after I get back and I can personally ask my superiors about getting you stateside... I mean Earthside. Man this world is going to seriously fuck up our vocabulary." I chuckled.

"You two done with your little lovers chat?" Guiche said from in front of us with a sarcastic smirk.

"Shut the Fuck up." I said as I flipped Guiche off.

"What does a Seal have to do with anything?" I swear, french is a crappy language.

"It means... never mind." I said while Saito was snickering.

After traveling on the horses for the rest of the day we finally reached the port, on a giant mountain. What the fuck?

"So why is the port on a mountain?" I asked Wardes as we got off the horses at the place we were staying for the night.

"It's how you reach a floating continent, don't you know anything of Albion?" Wardes said with a smirk.

"Nope, so we're heading to a giant floating rock, using some kind of airship?" I asked as if it was a normal thing to say.

"Of course, how else would we get there?" Wardes said as he carried his luggage into the building.

"Makes sense I guess, a giant floating country for the magical world, what's next, elves?" I said to no one in particular.

"Your a Familiar Saito!" Louise screamed at Saito, drawing me into their conversation. "It's a given that you go where ever I go!" She stormed off with the tails of her cloak flapping behind her. Saito just stood there with his hands in his pockets. After a moment or two he sat down on his bag with a depressed look on his face. I decided to go and cheer the kid up.

"Hey kid." I went up and sat next to him. "What was that about?" I asked him. I pretty much had a good idea, no teenager takes on a 5 story walking rock to save a girl for nothing. I was also aware that this Wardes guy was Louise's fiance, given the social classes in this world I could tell that the odds of Saito and Louise dating were as about as good as Jack surviving in the Titanic movie.

"Nothing." Classic teens, not admitting their problems and simply using the most cliched word to avoid talking about problems.

"Take it from someone who knows, Louise is into you." Saito's face got red instantly.

"No, no, it's not like that. I'm happy that she has found a good man to marry." He stammered.

"Deny it all you want, but let me tell you something about women. They want a man to push back a bit, to knock the other guys on their ass. She wants you to man up and tell Wardes off. So quit with the mopping around and grow a pair." I said. "Women are like fishermen, they want a bit of a fight before bringing you in." Saito gave me a blank look.

"Really? That's the analogy you use?" I chuckled at his response.

"Just go in there, grab Louise and throw her into the wall, say you love her and just give her the longest hardest kiss you can." I said with a serious face, betraying the chuckle that was rising from my throat.

"Somehow I doubt she'll take it that way." Saito shook his head.

"Believe me, I dated a girl into the kinky stuff before, they like it when their man gets rough." I patted him on the back.

"Would you stop that, there is nothing like that going on." Saito almost shouted. "You know what, you suck at advice when it comes to women." Saito walked off, leaving me alone.

"Meh, he's got a point." I laughed to myself and went into the town. I decided to meet up with Shield so we can come up with an effective plan of action to infiltrate Albion and recover the plans, gear and our men.

I waited at the bottom of the steps from the inn we were staying at. After a minute or two I saw him coming up to me. He was dressed in multi-camo and was armed with an H&K 416 with the same kind of set up as my CQBR, although had slightly different stuff. The H&K fires the standard 5.56x45mm round. Judging by the size of his 30 round magazine I could tell that he is using the 5.56.

"Took you long enough Yank." Shield said with a look of caution, his eyes scanning every inch of the area for any sign of danger. Shield was in his 30s and was apart of the UK equivalent of a Tier 1 Unit. I might as well be working with a Delta soldier.

"Ello govna, what kind of hole are we putting the toad in?" I asked in a poor British accent.

"You're a fucking riot, were you followed?" Shield asked with a serious face. It's pretty common to meet guys like this, many Spec-Ops guys joke around in a serious tone when on a mission. He may sound rude but it is something of a form of respect and being a professional. It's really hard to explain it to someone who doesn't have a buddy like that. Even though we just met we have formed a strong bond. That's something that is apparent in all branches and units. SEAL, Beret, Marine or even sailor, we all respect one another, while busting each others chops.

"No, did you get the stuff?" The stuff I referred to was the C-4 that the satellite dropped. It would be better for him to retrieve it than me, less witnesses.

"Yea, it's right here yank." He showed me the bag with the C4.

"Good, we'll be heading out tomorrow evening on the ship to Albion. From their we'll continue with the plan." He nodded and we both went to the inn where the rest of the group were staying.

"Do you think we have a chance of succeeding? This is a textbook suicide mission, with or without advanced weapons." Shield said as we climbed the stairs to the inn.

"We SEALs have a moddo, if there is even a chance of success we will take it." I proclaimed proudly.

"Who dares, wins." Shield smirked. Our faces said it all, we were ready to go to hell to succeed in our mission. Fuck the people who say SEALs are better or SAS are better. We're both equals in our own right. Admittedly though, Shield has a decades worth of experience over me so he could probably kick my ass if he wanted to.

We sat in the lobby and I decided to get more info from him.

"I noticed that much of the weapons used to try and kill the Princess were inspired by our tech, do you know anything about that?" I asked Shield.

"From what I gather we created a sort of lunatic cult that reveres our weapons as the ones used by Brimy or what ever his name was. I can confirm that their leadership is outside of Albion, using Albion as a sort of middle man. Who I can not tell, could be Romalia, Germania, I don't know. What I do know is that this cult has been around for at least 100 years, since WW1." I looked shocked at the info.

"How can you confirm this?" I asked with intrigue.

"These men who have our boys hostage showed me some unique things they have procured over the years, 1 was an old WW1 tri-fighter plane. I couldn't tell the exact model but it was German made. They refer to it as the Tres Alatum Draco." Once again the use of the Latin language. This means 3 winged dragon. "They worship our weapons like divine intervention or something like that. Your guy Oliver Cromwell is a double agent for this cult, they are trying to over throw the Albion nobility and also trying to assassinate the Princess of Tristian. They may do the same to Germania but I can't confirm that." I nodded to my newly appointed spotter.

"This has to be a stealth mission through and through, we must not jeperdise the alliance of our Militaries. Plausible deniability, we do not exist and we must not get captured. Killing must be avoided and we can not harm Cromwell, that would be seen as an assassination attempt on a political figure. We have enough problems with that at the moment." Shield glared at me because he knew I was referring to him.

"So we dish out our own version of divine retribution?" Shield smirked after I nodded.

"It will be a nice sight, anyway we need to pack our gear and make sure we're ready. I really hope this works but you can never be to careful with this kind of infiltration mission. You stay behind me and watch what I watch. Since I outrank you I will take command in this mission, that and I saved your ass from being burned, literally." I smirked.

"You are an Arse hole, you know that?" Shield said rhetorically. We went off to bed and waited for what would be one of the most interesting missions in our lives. Through better or worse the following events will forever change this world.

**End Chapter 7**

From here on out the story is going to begin to change. I will try to follow the Anime as close as possible but I will change the personalities of many of the characters and change much of the events. First off, I am avoiding most fan-service stuff seeing as how a lot of people hate that. I may add a comedic chapter here and there but that is it, this will focus on the political change and the massive interference NATO will make.

Characters like Siesta will be less annoying. In later seasons, Siesta will act like how she did in the first season, more of a timid shy person who would not stand up to nobility but will eventually grow as a character. She will not be a raging lunatic to steal Saito by dressing up like a skimpy maid, she will be like how she was in the first season, a helpful character that is kind and caring. There will be other changes but she will be the most dramatic.

As for any kind of future romance, so far Henrietta is winning in the romance. Fuck you guys, it is going to be hard to do a romance between a soldier and princess, maybe add a bit of drama and suspense with that. Again, for romance please vote for what you want.


	8. Chapter 8: Infiltrate Albion

**Chapter 8: Infiltrate Albion **

"You summoned a human Familiar, I'd expect nothing less from you Louise." Wards told his illegal (What is she, 12?) fiance with admiration and a hint of pride. I'm sure his pride is coming from the fact that she will be his wife and not in her actual accomplishment. Something about the guy rubbed me the wrong way. He just seemed to arrogant and cocky, he had a face that just screamed bad intentions. Or maybe it's just the beard. Why do beards make everyone look evil? Speaking of which I need to shave soon, my 5 o clock shadow has grown into a small black beard.

"I wouldn't have thought you would say something lord Wardes." Louise smiled but I could tell it was partly fake. It's not hard to tell she didn't like the guy much. She admired him and thought of him as a friend and uncle but I could tell she was romantically interested in Saito.

"No, I honestly didn't mean it out of sarcasm." Wardes smiled a smile that told everyone who was perceptive that he was very proud of himself for choosing Louise. Not out of love but as a status thing. "This is an amazing thing you've done Louise." He almost seemed honest with his tone.

I looked to my left from the dining room table and knew that Shield also sensed something wrong. Shield is a fellow sniper and I could tell he had that 6th sense that most great snipers have. He looked at me as if reading my mind and confirming that he thought the same, even without uttering a word. In this line of work, you form such a powerful bond that you can communicate with just looks alone. He turned back to his roasted pork steak and continued to eat.

Wardes began to stare at Saito and after a moment Saito noticed. Wardes had a look plastered on his face as if he was planning to do something.

"You two were in a duel, correct?" He referred to Saito and Guiche, who then began to choke on his food.

"Well, uh, that was actually..." Guiche didn't even get to finish what he was trying to say.

"I heard this duel marked the first time you wielded a sword Saito, is it really true?" Wardes asked the young Japanese kid.

"Well, yea." Saito said with little power in his voice, no doubt depressed about the whole girl thing.

"I also heard that you used the staff of destruction to catch Fouquet, could that be true as well?" Wards asked again.

"Staff of destruction?" Shield asked me.

"Vietnam era M27, they thought it was magic." Shield nodded his head and took a sip of his wine.

"I guess so." Saito said. "You really know the details."

"Being in my position let's me have all sorts of information." Wardes smiled with pride.

"Even information about a peasant Familiar like him?" Louise asked.

"That's why I've grown an interest in you." Wardes smirked. This wasn't going to be good. "And I was thinking of asking you to engage in a practice match." Everyone looked at Wardes shocked. "Our ship doesn't arrive until tomorrow, it's rather dull to spend our time idling, don't you think?" Saito just said ok without little thought. Louise tried to intervene but I turned to Saito.

"Bad idea kid, the best way to win a fight is to avoid it." I told him.

"No doubt something you inherited from your pathetic Military?" Wardes laughed at his own joke.

"It's just for fun so why not?" Saito asked me.

"There is something off about this guy, It's an old strategy, he wants to gauge your strength to see if it is a threat to his own." I said.

"I feel rather insulted that you don't trust me Commander." Wardes said with mock hurt.

"Then tell me, why is it that a Captain of a squad has been sent with us on a simple job? Albion, despite its political situations is still a friendly country and there is no conflict with it. So instead of sending a body guard we are sent a Military Officer without any of his back up units. That seems very convenient, don't you think?" Wardes poker face was pretty good. He just stared at me with a mock genuine smile.

"Officially I am on vacation and I wanted to personally protect my soon to be wife." Wardes defended with a confident voice. "Even still, the roads are plagued with bandits and ruffians, is it not a mans job to protect his lover?" I still thought the idea of them two very sick. He's almost old enough to be her father, well, if he were to have had kids young.

"We have Louise's Familiar, the man who defeated the thief and a noble Mage for protection, not to mention me. I have a job to do in Albion so it makes sense for me to be here, you on the other hand have no purpose here." I stated with conviction.

"Believe what you wish Commander, but I am here to keep my fiance safe, if you have a problem with it you are allowed to place a complaint to the Princess, until then I suggest you keep your commoner mouth shut." As he said that, Wardes expression went from a calm and patient one to a glare that seemed like he was trying to hide something.

"I'm done, I'll see you tomorrow Riptide." Shield stood up and went to his quarters. I gathered that he was very patient. Just by his mannerisms and tone I could tell he agreed with me. But from what I can deduce Shield would rather wait to confirm that Wardes is a threat instead of accuse. My strategy was different, by putting pressure on the accuse you can judge their reactions. You can decipher if they are conning you or being sincere. 2 different strategies that leads to the same goal. Really though, either strategy works, it depends on your conviction and determination to either wait or get what you want.

"Do what you want Saito, but I'm done for tonight. Just trust me though it's a bad idea." I also stood up and went to my own room. Me and Shield shared the same room, a small one with 2 single beds on either side of the wall. I used this time to go over the plan again with Shield. After about an hour of planning we both decided to go to sleep.

Coming down stairs it was apparent what happened last night. Wardes was as usual and Saito was depressed. His damned feeling of pride cost him. I saw the kid sulking on the balcony, part of me felt kind of bad for the kid but you reap what you sow. We all have to deal with the consequences of our actions, still, maybe I could cheer him up.

"Your ass was handed to you, wasn't it." It wasn't a question. Saito just sort of stood there, not really paying much attention to me. "So what, you just going to sulk there all day? Not even bother to go in there and face everyone like a man?" I began to raise my voice.

"You didn't see what happened, I was no match for him." Saito said in a low voice.

"He is a full grown man with years of training under his belt, you are a 16 year old kid who never fought in his life. The fact that you had the balls to fight him is proof enough." Saito still didn't look at me. "Saito, you fought a giant 4 story piece of rock with nothing more than a sword, you did that of your own merit and you fought with courage that very few back home would."

"What about you? You fought it too." Saito finally turned to me.

"I had years of training and combat experience kid, not to mention I had guns. You were stupid, taking that thing head on but showed more courage than just about anyone I have ever met. What you showed was true courage and dedication to protect those important to you. Your on a whole different league than me kid." Saito looked dumbfounded.

"How? Your a part of the best fighting force in the world." Saito pointed out.

"Kind words but they are hollow. Even with all the training, all the experience and privileges I am still just a soldier. A soldier is a tool for his government, he follows the orders he is given and is not allowed to question them or refuse them. Every soldier is a hero in their own right but that doesn't stop the truth, we may choose to enter, but we are forced to fight. We sacrifice our freedom, until we retire or die we have no freedom. You fight for the people you care for, you fight not because you are ordered to but because you choose to. I did not choose to come here Saito, I was ordered to come here. They told me what I had to do and I had no choice but to follow, granted you didn't choose either but you can choose what you do here. That is what makes you a better man then me. I fight because it is my job, you fight because of those you care for. Get past the training and skills, your stronger than I will ever be." And yes, I believed every word I said. It's one thing to fight when ordered, it's another thing to choose to fight while in the middle of a crisis.

"How can I if I can't even beat Wardes?" Saito asked.

"If Louise was really in danger, if he truly meant her harm, you would have taken him to the cleaners in no time. One time when raiding a house is Afghanistan, I went into a room with a woman and her child. Of course I meant her no harm, but she thought I did. She ran up to me and kicked my ass, I need to remind myself to tell command that we need cups in the field hehe. My point is, even someone with no training can defeat someone with training if they are fighting for the right thing."

"You lost to a house wife?" Saito laughed.

"Dude, she went for my balls, I don't think any man could have fought her. For the record, I did manage to knock her out. She's fine but damn that was scary, and I was still green." Ok I know, that moment sucked. Still hurts my pride, literally and figuratively. "Don't ever lose that desire Saito, a man isn't some tough bad ass. A man is someone who can protect all those he cares for, not just protect but who can provide for his family. Always remember that Saito." Saito nodded.

Me and Shield loaded up for the trip. Unlike the group, who are taking the evening ship, we're taking the morning one. Henrietta understood the urgency and secrecy of our mission so she gave us enough money to take the morning trip. I would like to point out that Shield is a dick. I mean seriously? He didn't tell me that ships can fly and Albion is a floating slab of rock? The fuck. Want to know what his reply was?

"You just found out? You've been here how long and this kind of thing which is common knowledge to the population is just now reaching you?" Fuck you shield, you and your British accent. Not going to lie I am jealous of him, do you know how many girls would swoon over me if I had that accent?

I waved the kids good bye and we were off. It was an interesting feeling, going up this high on a freaking man of war ship. OK, it wasn't a man of war but same thing. Me and Shield went down to our room and decided to go over the plan 1 last time. The facility holding our men and tech was in a hilly region on the south side on the island. We would sneak up to a high point and survey the area for a good few hours, memorizing the basic layout of the outside area. It will be a grassy hill so there is no where to take cover. Our only hope of getting inside is to sneak at night. Luckily they have very poor lighting systems (Candles) so it shouldn't be hard to get in. Especially in my woodland camo and and his multi-camo. We agreed that silence would be the best course of action so we both got out suppressors and attached it to our guns.

Our first priority is to find where they keep the small arms, we get those and then go to the prison. We arm our buddies and we become a regular strike force. Unfortunately, the amazing stealth you see in movies is fake. We can sneak for a bit but we will have to hit hard. Once we get to the perimeter we hit hard and fast. Shield managed to memorize some of the places during his time there. The armory and prison are both located underground, about 100 feet from each other and connected by a long tunnel. This was actually very good design. This would make a large army have trouble getting through, all you had to do was have a few men block it and they can't get through. That is, if we used swords. Bad design if we have modern guns. Actually it might still be effective, it will get hard getting through that tunnel when the bodies start piling up.

The facility itself is more like an 18th century fort than a facility. 20 foot high walls, made of stone and guards everywhere. But this kind of thing is our specialty, after all, a sniper is always a part of a killing squad. Our Exfil (Ex-filtration) will be done by a floating boat that we will steal from the harbor. Well, more like force the crew at gun point to fly it for us.

The trip lasted for about 7 hours and we finally hit port.

"We should buy some horses, the fort is 5 Mikes (Miles) away and if we go on horse back we'll be there by sundown." Shield said. I nodded and we went to the nearest horse stable. We bought 7 horses in order to get everyone out of there with speed. We left the port at a trotting pace and I followed shields instructions as we got to the fort.

By the time we got there, there was very little light left. We stopped the horses at the bottom of the hill where they couldn't see us. We began to apply our face paint. The way it works is using 3 main colors to block the reflective oil on the skin. There is a common misconception that black people are naturally better Camouflaged because of their darker skin tone. This is wrong because even their skin reflects light because of the oil.

Their are 2 main types of camo face paint Conventional and unconventional. Conventional comes in 3 kinds, one is to invert the shadows of the face. The other is a leaf like pattern and the last one is black stripes to blend into a shadowed area.

Unconventional is where you paint a devil pattern or something to scare the enemy. The SEALs in Vietnam were famous for this, they were nicknamed by the Vietcong as the "Men with Green Faces".

I applied your basic conventional inverted pattern. The human eye is most sensitive with light, so it recognizes shadows more than anything else. The contours of the human face creates shadows and lighted areas. The design is simple, apply dark paint to features on the face that stick out, like your nose, cheek bone and chin; and apply lighter colors for the eye sockets, lower cheeks and forehead. I used 2 colors, green and black.

Shield used an unconventional face paint. He colored in his whole face with a dark green, while using light green on his eye lids. He used a black paint in his eye sockets and it made the light green eye lids almost appear to glow. Then he had 2 black lines going from his eyes to his jaw. Lastly he made his chin and lips black. Not going to lie, that looked intimidating.

The result was perfect, night had descended and I couldn't even see my partner. All I could see was his outline on a starry sky. The camo was perfect, we were literally invisible. The only way you could see us is if you shined a flash light on us. With the poor lighting systems of this world there is no light pollution, even the moons didn't offer enough light to see very well. We attached our NODs (Night Observation Device) to our heads and instantly the world lit up in a green hue. As the decade past night vision technology got better. Essentially all this was, was a pair of night vision goggles in the shape of binoculars held onto a strap that connects to my head. Since Shield had a helmet it just attached right on. The newer models gives full vision, getting rid of the tunnel vision caused by earlier models.

We slowly made our way up the hill, suppressors attached to my EBR and SIG. I decided to keep my CQBR without a suppressor because my hand gun would be better suited for silence. A high caliber round is still loud, even with a suppressor, a suppressor is meant to make a gun shot sound different, not quiet it. But by slowing the escaping gas and bullet down it lowers the power of the gun. So it would be better for my CQBR to be my power gun, for when things get hairy.

Just before we reached the top we began to crawl so as not to outline ourselves in the sky. I put my EBR on its Bi-pod and looked through the scope. This would be my sniper rifle. All of our supplies were at the horse to ensure speed and intensity in the raid. Shield got out a scope as well and looked through his tri-pod. After a few moments we calculated the distances of random objects in the fort.

The fort was square in shape, with a total of ten buildings all over the inside. Each building was lined neatly like a normal barracks. Some of them were housing for the guards, mess hall, officers quarters etc. The entrance was a wooden gate to the right of us, if looking outside from the gate we were on the right side at the top of the hill. Where the gate is where there is a courtyard for training and drills. Currently we could see men training and another man pounding a drum so the men could keep in rhythm with the others. That drum would be useful in helping conceal the sound of the EBR, if I can time the shot right.

So far we marked the gate, which is 316 M from us. The furthest wall is 457 M from us. All of these are easy targets, no need to compensate for bullet drop. There was no wind at all so no need to compensate for that either.

"Alpha, near the flag pole." Shield said. We discussed code names of targets in the fort. Alpha is Cromwell and he was speaking with a woman at the flag pole. Cromwell was one ugly SOB. He wore a weird dome hat and had strange blond hair. We looked rather old, I'd say 40s.

"Zulu to the right, 3 Meters." I said to Shield. Zulu was an unknown. The woman he was talking to wore strange black clothing and had black hair. She had strange markings on her eyes, almost looking like tears.

"How to proceed?" Shield asked.

"Officials must not be touched, we take out the guards on the wall then move, if things go to hell we pull an IED." We used IED (Improvised Explosive Device) as a code name for our back up plan. If things go south and we run the risk of getting captures we blow the C4 on our backs and take all our tech with us. Not exactly my intention of going suicide, but there is no chance of rescue and we must not let them get C4 or NODS, or anything for that matter.

After 3 hours of studying the area Shield moved towards the wall. We stayed in radio contact so we could communicate at a distance. He moved at a low walk, the hill preventing him from being silhouetted. He reached the 20 foot wall and gave me a thumbs up. Now was the tricky part.

He used a grappling hook and threw it over the wall. It landed at the top and stuck. A guard noticed it and went over to investigate. Timing my shot with the rhythm of the gun I dropped him with a shot to the face. Normally you aim center mass but I didn't want to risk a ding from his armor making too much noise.

Shield climbed to the top and dropped the body down the outside of the wall, to make him harder to find. Keeping low enough to be partially hidden by the rails he moved to the right corner of the fort. After taking out the guards in the corner I moved as well. Using his 416, Shield covered my advance in case a guard happened to look my way. I sprinted down the hill knowing that no one would see me. I grabbed the rope and hauled myself up onto the top of the wall.

The entrance to the underground was right below the corner that Shield was at. We quickly headed down the stairs and went into the door way. We moved down the spiral stairs in a quick walk with our guns pointed. He still had his 416 but I had my SIG out. The armory was guarded by 2 guys, nothing a synchronized head shot at 10 M won't fix. Knowing the guards didn't have the keys we opted for a breach. Shield set up claymores at the stair way entrance for when the other guards come to investigate. The door was solid metal but it was old styled, 2 bits of C4 on the hinges will break it down. Careful to apply just enough to break the hinges but not kill us, we retreated to a safe distance. Shield got behind me and tapped my shoulder, signalling that he was ready. I hit the button and then...

BOOM!

Our ears were ringing from the explosion but we quickly got over it and ran inside. The door was still up but a little push made it fall down. We heard the alarm bell start ringing and everyone was awake now.

The inside astonished me. There were guns from all ages and places. A German MP40, Winchester rifle, Vietnam M16 with a triangle grip, this confirmed my fears. They have been at this for a while. We took random weapons and put them in a bag. We took an MP5, made in the 70s; a Thompson SMG with a grip and drum mags, a 12 gauge pump action made from wood and iron, the Vietnam M16A1, M60A1 LMG and 5 pistols ranging from revolvers to automatics. We guns small guns to keep things light. lastly we planted enough C4 to blow that place to hell and leave nothing left. After that we ran down the tunnel to where the prisoners were kept.

As we went down our claymores went off followed by men screaming in pain. Shield intentionally put them so they would hit the men's legs, injuring them but not killing them. This forced the others to have to stop and help their downed allies, a dirty trick but you do what you have to. Worse case scenario, the injured men get amputated, a better alternative to death.

"Look there, we have intruders!" I heard yelling at the end of the tunnel. Shield was busy carrying the guns so I had to take them out. The tunnel was wide enough for 5 men so their were 5 men in front of us. Behind them were more and I couldn't tell exactly how many. One of them was getting ready to throw a spell at me but I took a frag grenade and rolled it right to them. I rolled it a good 30 M so I will be safe from shrapnel. One of the men laughed.

"Look here men, this Commoner threw a rock at u..."

Boom!

before he could finish the grenade went off. I took semi-auto bursts at any man still remaining or still alive. Since they all couldn't use ranged weapons I went against protocol and took head shots. Normally you do 2 to the chest and 1 to the head but I decided to save ammo and time.

At the end of the tunnel I threw a flash bang and blinded anyone inside. Moving quickly I killed everyone in there that had a guard uniform.

"What the fuck?"

"What the bloody hell is going on?" I heard screaming in the prison. I knew that they were our guys. I looked in the cell and saw them trying to regain their sight.

"My name is Commander Riptide, I'm with SEAL Team 10 and I'm here to get you out of here." I said quickly.

"Good to see you mate." Shield said to one of the guys who I assumed was sword.

"Damn, you sure know how to make an entrance, what would mum say?" The man in the multi-camo said. They were all wearing their boots, cargo's and combat shirts, nothing else.

"You two done flirting, can we go now?" I said in all seriousness. I hit the lock with the but of my gun opening it up.

First their was Sword, he was an average looking guy, actually looked a lot like Shield, my guess is they are brothers.

Then came DEVGRU, there was Captain Trident, Commander Flint lock or Flint, lieutenant Anchor and Petty Officer first class Eagle. Delta and the Air force men were missing.

"Where's the others?" I asked.

"They were taken else were, to the capital for questioning." Trident said. I felt some anger come out but I needed to keep cool for now. We armed them all with the weapons, we then decided to fun up the stairs in the back of the room which would take us to the courtyard.

We ran up the stairs, Shield was the point man, who was in front of everyone else and I was behind him. Even though Trident out ranked me, for the moment I had command since I was doing the rescuing. We went into the courtyard and were surrounded by men.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect someone to actually get pass our defenses, but you have done a great job." Cromwell spoke to us. We all had guns pointed in every direction, everyone waiting for my orders. "But what can you expect from people from your world." Cromwell boasted.

"And how do you know anything about us?" I asked.

"Simply lay down your arms and we will tell you." The snake smiled.

"Not likely, you see old man, for taking hostage of US and UK operatives you have declared war with the forces of NATO. Release us and we will send Representatives to negotiate a truce at a neutral location." I said with power in my voice, commanding respect.

"And what do we have to fear against you? You are nothing more than commoners, your weapons are fascinating but they have no real power. Just sticks that spit pebbles." Cromwell laughed.

"I would be wary if I were you Cromwell, these commoners are stronger than they look." The woman in black said to him. My finger was itching for a crack at these men. I knew that I had to avoid hitting Cromwell, but if he attacks I will kill him, never fire unless fired upon.

"And your some kind of expert lady?" I asked the bitch.

"Not really, but I am the one who commissioned this fort, and I'm a bit angry at the weapons you destroyed." She said with hatred.

"What weapons?" Cromwell asked. Something didn't sit well with me, this woman was letting on more than she should know. The idea that Cromwell had no knowledge of the weapons made me on edge. Apparently the old bastard is just a pawn, the woman in black is holding his strings. Question is, who is holding her's?

"Shield your eyes!" Shield screamed as I heard 3 grenades hit the ground. Doing as he said I heard the flash bangs go off, blinding everyone who were looking at it. 1 of them was a smoke grenade and covered our escape. We ran in the direction of the gate, taking shots at anyone who got in the way.

After we got outside we hurried up the hill in a leap frog covering technique. I stopped and fired at the enemy as some of the others moved, then they would turn and fire as well, allowing me to move up behind them. We continued this till we were at the top of the hill. We rand down the hill to the horses, got on them and made a break for it. They tried to pursue us but the men Trident and Flint made short work of them with their SMGs.

We used the cover of darkness and the hills to mask our escape as we headed back to the docks to get back to Tristain. The mission was a partial success, but seeing those old guns made me worried. Unfortunately we were in no condition to search for the missing data and artillery, not to mention the nukes. The only way to get at them is with either an invasion with superior forces or a covert mission with full support. Either way, this is going to be one hell of a fight.

**End Chapter 8**


	9. Chapter 9: War on the Rising Sun

**Chapter 9: War on the Rising Sun **

I woke up from my nap in the small carriage as we headed back to the Palace. Getting here was very easy. It's funny, working with enemies that use phones and radios they can call long distances easily. Here, the guards at the port had no way of knowing that we were just labeled criminals. I have to be careful, I don't want to be spoiled by how easy this was. I also wish I could see Cromwell's face when he looks at his now dead and wounded men. Pebbles, bastard. How about I shove one of those pebbles up his ass.

We decided to rest at the nearby village called Taulb to gather our strength and regroup for the moment. Even though the trip was easy we have been awake for the past 30 hours. Of course this was nothing, in the 4TH week of training at BUDS to go through Hellweek. For the first 100 hours you do nothing but train, not even a second of shut eye. After that you get 1 hour of sleep. In a total of 5 1/2 days you get a total of 4 hours of sleep. Even the SAS have their moments of sleep deprivation but I don't know much about their training.

After we got to the port we managed to buy our way out. I still had some currency left over from Henrietta and I used a good portion of it to get us back to the main land. Unfortunately it took a few days for the ship to be ready but we managed to stay out of sight while the guards looked for us. From there we simply bought a carriage for concealment and are now making our way back to the palace.

The arrival of the NATO soldiers would happen tomorrow and I was almost exited for this moment. Odds are that I'll be able to go home when this is done since my work was mostly done. This kind of area is Tier 1 territory so I would probably get in the way. This mission was sponsored by J-SOC after all.

"We have an unknown, 11-o-clock position!" Anchor said in a low yet powerful voice.

"Hold up, they're with us." I said as the men lowered their weapons. In the distance I saw Saito, Kirche, Tabitha Guiche and that maid from the school.

"Riptide? What are you doing here? And who are they?" Saito said to me as I got off the carriage.

"Just some back up." I said.

"You guys still use the Tommy gun?" He looked over at Flint.

"Classified." I said and he gave me an annoyed look.

"Fine, can you at least tell me where your going now?" He asked.

"We're heading back to the palace, should be able to regroup there. For the moment though we're looking to take a pit stop in Taulb." He nodded.

"So you know these kids?" Eagle asked.

"More or less, they actually helped me get to Albion in the first place." I said.

"What are you kids up to?" Shield asked Saito.

"We're looking for the Robe of the Dragon." Siesta said before Saito did with a pleasant smile.

"What?" I asked.

"My great grandfather used it many years ago, he would put it on and take the shape of a dragon, or that's how the legends go." She cupped her hands in front of her and kept that innocent school girls smile. I noticed that she would look at Saito every now and then and could easily tell she had a crush on him.

"Yea, we're here on a sort of treasure hunt." Saito said.

"Why don't you come with us, with your magical musket you would be of great help." Kirche said.

"Magical musket?" Captain Trident looked at me.

"I don't know." I said honestly to him. "They think it's magic." I whispered just low enough for him to hear.

"Sorry Yanks but we don't have time for this." Sword said, his voice actually had a bit of Scottish in it, it was mostly and English accent though.

"It may be important, they called the plane that you guys were on the "King of Dragons"." I said to sword.

"What is your point Riptide?" Trident asked.

"If they mistake our massive plane as a Dragon, who's to say they won't mistake another one?" I said. "The girl did say her great grandfather wore it, that sounds like a plane to me." Trident looked at me, debating on what to do next.

"I'd suggest that we split up, some of us will stay behind and investigate this while the others continue to the rally point." Shield spoke up.

"How far can our radios work?" I asked Anchor, who was the radio man of the group.

"30 Mikes, without satellites we need to be in an open area, rocky areas or underground ares will screw up the signal." He said.

"The Palace is only 10 Mikes from here, we'll contact the other if things go south." I said with power in my voice. "Shield, Sword, your with me. DEVGRU, you report back to the palace and tell the local Princess that your with me and need a place to stay. When their you will either wait for the arrival of the reps or until I contact you, is that understood?" I ordered.

"Hooyah Commander." They said in a loud voice. Who, I am the leader of ST6, what a day. As a kid I worshiped these guys, after this mission I will become eligible for Green Team, the 9 month selection process to join DEVGRU. We saluted each other and went our separate ways for the moment.

"Hooyah?" Guiche asked. "What does that mean?"

"Hooyah." I answered cryptically, Guiche didn't say anything after that.

We walked for about 10 minutes before reaching the cave that lead to the shrine. As we entered Kirche's red lizard thing lit up with it's fire and let us see inside the cave without NODs, or in their case torches. We walked for a good bit till Kirche started to complain.

"Geeze, how deep is this thing?" She complained.

"I don't know, nobody ever comes here, not even the villagers." Siesta answered. "They even say it has a nest of Orcs here." Kirche jumped a bit at that.

"You might have said that before we came in." She turned to us with a downed look on her face.

"What did you expect?" I said. "That you'd be able to get "Lost" with Saito?" Kirche looked guilty at that. "Teenage girls, seriously." I said as Sword and Shield laughed too.

"Somebodies there, they're coming." Tabitha said.

"What do you mean." Guiche practically screamed.

"6-o-clock position, take cover." I said as we turned 180 and got behind some rocks on the wall, aiming our weapons towards the mysterious person walking up to us. All of a sudden one of the stalactites exploded.

"That was just a warning, leave now!" A voice said in the shadows. We all got ready for a fight when Kirche said.

"Wait a minute, that voice." We kept or guns pointed down range. I saw the leg of a man peak out of the corner, I put my finger on the trigger readying to firer.

"You thieves, you will not take this treasure from this place." I slowly pulled the trigger until...

"Mr. Colbert?" Guiche said.

"You know him?" I asked, letting go of the pressure on the trigger.

"He's one of our professors." Kirche said.

"What are you guys doing here?" He came out of hiding.

"Don't move!" Sword shouted.

"Stand down, he's a friendly." They reluctantly followed my orders. Now I remember, he was at the meeting when we went after the thief.

"L...Louise?" Saito said as the pink haired girl came up from behind Colbert. After some explanation we learned that Colbert was on an expedition to find this robe thing. After a bit of a lovers fight between Saito and Louise, and explaining to Sword and Shield that yes, the sword does talk, we headed deeper into the cave.

After reaching the literal light at the end of the tunnel, we finally found the shrine. When we got to the door we saw there was a lock on it.

"Ah, no trouble, a bit of magic should open that." Colbert said.

"Tabitha, what are you looking at?" Saito ran over to her. She was looking at a slab of rock that is buried into the ground.

"What is it?" I asked as I joined them. Saito just froze and stood their in a daze.

"Takeo Sasaki." Saito said, reading the Japanese letters... Wait, Japanese?

"The fuck?" I said astonished by the stone.

"Rests here in another world." Saito finished.

"What the hell is Japanese writing doing here? And where do I know that name from?" I asked Saito.

"I don't know, I think we should have a look in the shrine." Saito said. We went over to Colbert who managed to open up the shrine door.

"Hey Yank, you might want to take a look at this." Sword yelled over to me. I swear I shouldn't be surprised by what I saw next. Honestly, I can't even tell what my face looks like right now but in the hanger is a Japanese Zero Fighter Plane.

"So this is the Robe of the Dragon?" Colbert says in amazement.

"Takeo Sasaki! It makes sense now!" I shouted to myself.

"What does?" Saito asked.

"My Great Uncle was a fighter pilot during WW2, he said during a strange eclipse he fought a Zero. His plane was badly damaged but he said he managed to escape. He found out after the war that the pilots name was Takeo Sasaki, who went MIA after the dogfight. He must have ended up here." Saito looked at me with interest.

"So your Great Uncle fought my Great Grandfather?" Siesta asked.

"Yea, he used the P-51 Mustang which could match the Zero in every fight. Due too some equipment failure he was nearly shot down by the Zero. He later became an Ace, scoring 6 confirmed kills." I said as Saito went over and touched the Zero. His hand started to glow.

"What's he doing?" Shield asked.

"Magic, all he has to do is touch a weapon and he knows everything about it." I explained. "I know, I felt jealous too." I said almost reading his mind.

"You know, I'm not positive but you may be able to return to your world." Colbert said. Saito looked at him shocked. "2 appeared during the solar eclipse, and 1 managed to return. What if this could be used the same way for the solar eclipse tomorrow?" Colbert stated.

"That makes sense." I said.

"They say my Great Grandfather flew for a long time, even when the other Robe disappeared, until he was forced to land." Siesta said.

"So there's a chance I can get back?" Saito looked strange, like he was having an inner war with himself. Louise looked completely distraught at the information.

Several hours later we managed to get the plane back the academy where many of the professors were looking at it with awe. Don't ask me how we did it, it was very difficult and involved magic, that's all.

They were all looking at it and were amazed at what they saw, to them it was like seeing a real dragon, legend made true and parchment become flesh. Well sort of.

"Hey, what did you too go talk about?" I asked as Saito came out from one of the towers.

"Colbert might be able to mass produce the Gasoline that he found, with enough of it we can get this thing flying in no time." Saito said happily.

"So how did Albion go?" I changed the subject. Saito looked down with a sad face.

"You were right about Wardes, he betrayed us and murdered Prince Wales. Now Albion is under a new government." He said.

"Guess the wedding between Louise and Wardes is off." I joked. Saito didn't even chuckle so I left it there. "Shit happens kid, you'll just need to..." I was interrupted by my ear piece.

_"Riptide this is Trident, we suggest you get your ass over here, things are getting hectic and the Princess has asked for you."_ He said.

"Understood, ETA will be 1 hour, repeat, ETA in 1 hour, over." I said back. "I have to go kid, Osmond!" I called to the old man.

"Yes?" He asked.

"I need a horse, ASAP." He nodded and went to a stable. In just seconds me, Shield and Sword were off on 3 new horses.

After 45 minutes of traveling we made it to the Palace which was in an uproar. I asked a servant where the war room was and ran to there. Inside I was greeted by Nobles, DEVGRU and the Princess discussing battle plans. DEVGRU actually wasn't a part of the discussion and stayed away, trying not to get in the way till I got there.

"And what goo would that do?" A noble said angrily. "We're up against a large Nation complete with Battle Ships. We only have 2 paths left for us, one is surrender and live, and the other is to resist and be killed."

"Surrender is not an option!" Henrietta stood up from her throne. "It is the same as a cowards death to lose ones pride as a Noble." She said with authority. "I will take personal charge of the Army." She turned to the queen, who looked just like her. Obviously considering she is her mother. Henrietta saw me at the door and she looked relieved. "Commander, I am glad you could join us, we must speak about this." I nodded and sat in one of the chairs.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked her.

"Albion has declared war on us and are on their way to Taulb." She said with almost no fear in her voice. "You Army will be here tomorrow, is there any way for them to aid us?" She asked with hope.

"I can try to get into contact with my superiors, they should be close soon." I said as I took out my Radio.

"What is that?" A Noble asked.

"It's how we keep in contact, I may be able to get a signal through but no promises." Henrietta nodded.

I fiddled with the Radio before getting a signal. My ear peace made static sounds at first but eventually I hard voices.

_"Riptide this is Command, we are doing a final test run, 12 we only have 12 minutes of talking at the moment. We will be sending the boots in around 10 hours, over."_ I heard Captain Walker say over the line.

"Understood sir." I said while everyone looked at me confused, wondering why I was talking to myself. "Sir, Albion has declared war on Tristain and they are asking us for Military aid, how to proceed? Over." I asked but could barely hear anything through the static.

_"We can not give aid as of now, we are only sending a small force of 3 dozen to protect the reps. We are not allowed to engage in combat, over."_ I didn't like that.

"Our soon to be ally is being attacked, we must do something, they are completely out matched, over." It took a moment but I heard a reply.

_"We will link up with the Army of Tristain, give us the location of the battlefield."_ Walker said.

"Can you Triangulate my current position? Over." I asked.

_"We can, over."_ Walker replied.

"Location..." I began as I looked at the map. "10 Mikes North West of my current position, 11-o-clock, over. In a small village called Taulb, over." I said.

_"Understood. We will link up, your ordered to not engage hostiles. However you are authorized to fire if fired upon, over."_ The Radio went dead.

"So what did your leaders say?" Henrietta asked.

"They will arrive on the battlefield in 10 hours. However we are not allowed to engage any targets." Before I could finish a Noble to my right stood up and yelled at me.

"How is that supposed to help us? Are you such cowards that you won't even fight!?" He yelled.

"We would like to avoid a war, however we are allowed to follow the rules of engagement." I said.

"And that would be?" The Nobel asked.

"Never fire unless fired upon, basically we can't attack them, but if they attack us we have the right to defend ourselves. That's not war, not technically." I said.

"So what your saying." Henrietta began. "Is that if you were attacked you can fight back?" I nodded.

"Yup, if even a pebble goes our way we can fire back." Henrietta smiled at this. "So what are we up against?" I asked.

"A single massive war ship as well as 100 dragon riders." A Noble said. "As long as that war ship is in the air we will never win. We can't even get close to it with all those Dragon Riders." I nodded. I examined the battle plan that they drew on the table. Well... it was bad. The wanted to go in full force and try and take out the ship, from the ground. Any fool would know that you never fight up hill, or in this case a flying ship.

"What is the best way to take out this ship?" I asked.

"The only way is to get at the floating crystal in the center of it." Another Noble said.

"Can we disable it? By taking out the mast?" Henrietta nodded.

"Yes, but we do not have any way of doing that." She said.

"Shield, how much C4 do we have?" I asked my temporary spotter.

"Not much sir, but we should be able to take out the Mast." He said.

It's a bit loony if you ask me American, I know exactly what your thinking." Sword chimed in.

"I wasn't asking your opinion LT." I bit back, pulling out the Rank card. He backed off.

"What is your plan Commander?" Henrietta asked with interest.

"Well, assuming that we could get a man on the ship we can disable the mast and make it unable to move." I said.

"How do you plan on doing that?" A Noble asked.

"Simple, we fly up there and get on board. With our weapons we are more than a match for anything they throw at us. I can get on board and destroy the mast." I said. "All I need is a griffin thing and I can get there no problem."

"Do you even know how to fly one?" Henrietta asked.

"I could do it." A man in armor said. "Since Lord Wardes has betrayed us I am now the new Captain of the Griffin Squad, you may call me Napoleon Gandere." I nodded.

"We can ride up there and place the explosives. Once we disable it do you think you can beat it?" I asked.

"I do not know, it will give us an advantage but it won't assure victory." She said.

"Ok, well in that case we'll have to cheat a little bit." I said and got exactly what I expected. An uproar.

"Cheat? You mean dishonor ourselves." A noble screamed.

"We will not lower ourselves to such a level." All of a sudden a loud whistle quieted everyone down.

"Jeez, what a bunch of stuck up morons." I heard Flint whisper.

"Listen, you will all die unless we do what we have to in order to win. Even with my Nations help that doesn't assure victory. We need to use more unconventional techniques." I said.

"Commander." The Princess began. "Such tactics are outlawed, to do so would disgrace who we are." She said.

"I'm not saying hide, just trick the enemy." I said. "Just to make the odds fair, we are up against a flying army, in order to win we have to get their asses on the ground. We're going to do what's called a fained retreat." I said as none of them understood the concept.

"So run? I'm sorry Commander but I believed you would have more honor than that." Henrietta looked at me with anger and disappointment.

"Look, here's what we do." I pointed to the large clearing the battle will take place. "We fight here for a bit but hug the forest. Once we have them chasing us we can retreat into the woods. They will have no choice but to dismount if they wish to pursue us, which no doubt they will. Then we attack when they are on the ground and don't have time to get back on their Dragons. It takes them by surprise and we get rid of their advantage and make the fight even. Then you can fight for honor to your hearts content. This strategy also evens the number of Griffins vs Dragons, it will work." I said. "When they're on the ground I can then hit the battle ship and we will disable it. This isn't cowardice, it's evening the odds."

"But to lie would dishonor us." This honor thing is getting on my nerves. Time for some reverse psychology.

"Isn't it also dishonorable to fight in the safety of the skies than on the ground? They are the ones cheating, fighting in the air while we're on the ground. This way you can keep this battle honorable." I found no arguments.

"All in favor?" Henrietta asked. Most of their hands raised. "So be it, Commander Riptides plan will be used. Prepare for battle." And they all left the war room.

"What do you think of our odds Captain?" I asked Trident.

"Well, seeing as how their Military is very narrow not good. But your plan should even the fight." I nodded. "I'm impressed though, you will be promoted when this is over, count on it." I smiled at that.

"Captain Riptide, I like the sound of that." I said. We prepared for battle.

I gave my EBR and all its ammo to Flint in exchange for his 12 Gauge. I also gave Anchor my CQBR and ammo for his Tommy gun. Seeing as how I will be flying, a 12 gauge will be much better for hitting targets while moving fast and the short and rapid fire of the Thompson will give me an advantage on the deck. I had 1 50 round drum magazine for the Tommy gun and 10 12 gauge buck shot. I could hold 5 in the tube and 1 in the chamber. I also opted to saw off the put stock and front part of the barrel to allow more maneuverability.

I was ready for war.

I walked up to Henrietta's room. I knew she was sad about the death of her cousin so I wanted to see if she was OK. As a Commander, soon to be Captain I knew about the face we put up so as not to demoralize our men. I was about to knock on the door but it was slightly open and I could hear quiet sobs coming from inside. I peaked in and saw that she was kneeling next to her bed with her body bent so her face was in the cushions. I saw her back rise and fall erratically and her soft voice marred by harsh sobs. I walked in quietly and knelt next to her, putting my hand soothingly on her back. She stiffened and looked at me. Her eyes were red from the tears and her cheeks were soaked.

I did the only thing I could think of, I hugged her. She buried her head in my chest and sobbed louder, her arms around my waist, holding tight as if trying to crush me from her anger and sorrow. No words need be said, I've lost many of my friends and family as well. Those lies we tell others, "It will be ok" is nothing more than a fairy tale. Nothing is ok about this. She lost her blood and the only thing that can help her is if she lets it all out.

After being there for, I don't know, minutes, hours? She finally stopped crying. She stood up, her eyes a darker shade of red and salt stains on her cheeks from the tears. No words need be said. I walked out of her room to allow her the small privacy of preparing for the war ahead of us. Before I left we looked each other a last time. Her mouth opened, about to say thank you but I just nodded, cutting her off. Like I said, no words need to be said. With that I left and went down stairs to meet the gathering Army.

**End Chapter 8 **

Well, next chapter and war with Albion will begin.


	10. Chapter 10:Green Mist of the Battlefield

**Chapter 10: The Green Mist of the Battlefield **

It was late at night, sunrise was only a few hours away. We would march to Taulb soon and arrive just as the sun rises. I applied some face paint, this time opting for a green coat of paint and a black skull shaped pattern. I looked like a demon like this. I was hoping to use that Zero as a weapon but I knew of Saito's desire to go home. We would have to make due until our boys got here. Command said that the first wave of troops would be 40 men. There would be 20 US Army Rangers, 10 British Royal Marines and 10 Canadian Army infantry. The next day the Representatives would arrive. From their they will negotiate for temporary land until we could find a more permanent base. Once the temporary base is set up they will send more troops. We're hoping to get a few hundred troops here by the end of the month, which is 20 days from now.

Everyone was preparing for the battle that would soon take place. I could spot some familiar faces, Guiche, Louise but that was it. The Princess strolled in with a... What the hell is she wearing? Is it me, or does her dress have more coverage then her armor? I mean, why does she have a breast plate that only covers the lower part of her breasts? But damn, she has a nice pair of...

SMACK!

"Ow, the fuck?" Shield slapped the back of my head.

"Pay attention you damn Yank." He said.

"Did you have to hit me?" I asked angrily. "I could get you Court Martialed for hitting a superior officer." I smirked.

"And I could embarrass you in front of the whole Army." Shield retorted.

"Go fuck yourself, damn that hurt." I said.

Even if it costs me my life, I will have Taulb back as ours." Henrietta knelt before her mother. She was really going to fight. I didn't like that, it's too dangerous for someone as inexperienced as her.

"May Brimire protect you and your soldiers." Her mother said. Who's Brimire? Oh well, it doesn't matter.

"Need a ride?" Napoleon smiled at me from his Griffin.

"No thanks, I'll walk for now." I said. He shrugged and got into formation. Without a word we all left in formation to the battle. We expected the enemy to have 1000 troops, we only had 400. Although we were out numbered nearly 2 to 1 we still had a chance if they followed my plan. I stayed near Henrietta's horse as we walked. She looked at me concerned.

"Have you ever been in battle before Commander?" She asked me in a low voice so her men don't hear the slight bit of fear she felt.

"Many times Princess." I said, my voice lowering to match hers.

"Have you ever faced these odds?" She asked.

"To be honest, I don't even remember a time when we actually had the advantage in numbers. We are the US Navy SEALs, the best the United States government has. We're always out numbered but never out maned. On average, every time I've gone to battle we were out numbered 50 to 1. I remember one time I only had 10 men against 200." Henrietta looked amazed.

"How did you succeed?" She asked.

"With superior training and tactics. The training was hard, 2 years of the hardest training of my life." I said, thinking back to BUDS.

"What was your training like?" She asked.

"First you go through Navy Boot Camp. It lasts around 8 weeks and gets you conditioned. For most guys they have 3 months of training after that but I was in Naval Special Warfare. After Boot Camp I did about 3 months of Pre-BUDS. It gets you ready for the main training program. After that I went through BUDS, or Basic Underwater Demolition SEALs Training. From there it was 7 months of hell. First you go through Phase 1, where you train 16 hours a day, 5 days a week. The 4TH week of training is known as Hellweek. You stay awake for 5 and a half days and get a total of 4 hours of sleep. I remember that I started BUDS with 120 guys, after Hellweek we were down to 30 guys left." Henrietta was shocked.

"Only 30 men made it?" She asked.

"Well, very few failed, most of those guys quit. Hell, half the class quit after the first week. It is the hardest training of your life. After that you do 2ND Phase, which is everything about water and swimming. That sucked. After that we go to 3RD Phase, which is where we learn land navigation, weapons training, handling explosives, that kind of thing. After the 7 Months are up we go to 3 Weeks of Parachuting school. Basically you learn to operate in the air." Henrietta nodded.

"The you became a SEAL?" She asked. I laughed.

"No, I was halfway done the selection process." Her jaw dropped slightly.

"All that and your half way done?" I laughed again.

"Actually, around 1 third or a quarter of the way. After that you go through 7 Months of SQT or SEAL Qualification Training. Almost everyone passes that, although it is much harder than BUDS. After that you get your Trident, which is the symbol of the SEALs. Finally you get selected for a SEAL Team, and you train with them for another year. All in all I was busy."

"That is amazing, all that training made you good enough to take on 50 men at once?" Henrietta said.

"Sort of, Not in hand to hand but with the right equipment and tactics I could." Henrietta was impressed.

"I have trained for combat since I was little but I never worked that hard. I only trained 1 hour a day, the rest was learning my duties as future queen." She said.

"Everyone has their role, some lead, some fight, some cure and some build. Who builds a kingdom? The king, or the workers?" I asked in a serious tone.

"But they are Commoners, don't you have the same separation in your society? We've been like this for thousands of years." Henrietta stated.

"We're different, we have a society that views all equal and allows freedom. We are the country of the free." I said.

"But to have no law and order is wrong, how do you prevent anarchy?" I laughed a bit.

"We have laws, but our laws view all equally and apply to all. If a rich person gets convicted for a crime he goes to jail just like a poor person. In theory anyway, that's not always the case but it's the general idea. Freedom means that we all are limited only by our desire to work. A man growing up on the street can become rich if he is smart and uses his money correctly. Education is free, anyone is allowed to have an education without having to pay. There are some schools that do ask for payment but they have plans to help you succeed and give loans so you can pay later. A persons social status is only limited by how hard he is will to work and how smart he is with his investments. Again, it doesn't always work but it works enough." I said.

"How do your schools make money?" She asked.

"Taxation, anyone who owns property must pay a tax. Our Taxations work with Taxation through Representation. Our country is divided into 50 states, each state taxes its citizens its own way. The government as a whole has little to do with taxes that deals with roads, building, schools and non-profitable companies. So every state is represented in a fair manner. The government does universally tax though, like for Military but again the people are represented by politicians of their choosing. This brings me to my next point, the people have the power. The population has the ability to choose their leaders. I guess our "King" would be the president, however he is elected through popular votes done by the people every 4 years. The President only serves for 4 years but can get elected again, however he can not run a third time. Presidents change every 4 or 8 years, this helps to prevent corruption." Henrietta was deeply confused. Much of these ideals and things made no sense to her. "It's hard to explain, but that is the general idea of it. Again, it works sometimes but as with all governments it has its problems." After that we fell into a comfortable silence.

"I enjoyed this talk, it helps calm the nerves before a battle." I nodded.

"Is this your first battle?" I asked, kind of already knowing the answer.

"Yes, I am afraid but I must stay strong." She said.

"By the way, any help from Germania? Weren't you supposed to marry them or something?" Henrietta shook her head.

"No, they called off the wedding, That's why I'm hoping for the aid of your country." Henrietta said, he knuckles turning white from gripping the reins of the horse so hard.

"We'll make it through this, not the first time I did the impossible." I smiled and she smiled back. Finally we reached the battlefield. If Command is correct about their ETA then they should be here in an hour, we just have to hold till then. In the distance we saw the massive ship. Can't really describe it, except that it is a man of war that has wings. Yea, picture that for a second. From here all the Dragon riders looked like bees buzzing around their nest.

"Griffin squad, lure out the enemies dragon knight squadron, magic knights, prepare for Commander Riptides plan." Henrietta said in a Military voice. The men did as they were ordered, and half of the griffin squad took off. Sword and Shield were in a hidden position, ready to take sniper shots with my suppressed EBR. Officially they stayed at the Palace because they were a part of the UK and could not be with us. Although it was an excuse so I don't here that honor whining crap, I need every advantage I could get and a Sniper team 500 M out with suppressed weapons won't be heard or seen. DEVGRU was with the Magic knights, prepared to lead the flanking assault. They were equipped with guns so the fight would be easy. They were also hidden however I told Henrietta that they needed to get some things first, that way this ambush of theirs will seem like an act of chance or fate than a "Dishonorable" Tactic. War is all about deception, even if you have to deceive your allies. And since they are attacking me, the SAS and DEVGRU are allowed to defend me from harm. So we can fight back.

My tactics began to work, the Dragons attacked the Griffins who were no match for them. They then retreated back to us and Henrietta ordered the retreat. We all ran into the forest so we couldn't be seen. There is no way they can see us, they have to land in order to attack.

"Henrietta, when you see them reach the entrance to the forest spring the trap, once that is done I will head up to the ship and disable it." She nodded. I whistled for Napoleon and got on the back of the Griffin. We rode a bit away from the main force so we didn't get caught in the battle. The Dragons began to land and the soldiers started making their way to the forest. Once that happened the trap was sprung, magic knights charged out on horse back and nailed the enemy. The Knights were so caught off guard many of them died before having a chance to do anything. I could also see one or two of them just drop occasionally, no doubt the work of the SAS Sniping Team.

"OK, you ready for this Commander?" Napoleon asked.

"Not really, but go anyway." He nodded and we were off. The Griffin broke the tree line and next thing I know, we're in the sky. Ignoring my huge fear of heights I got out the sawed off 12 gauge and prepared for a fight. Only about half of the Dragons landed, the rest were still flying and fighting the Griffin squad. Even with half their numbers on the ground the Griffins were still out numbered 3 to 1.

I saw one of the Dragons go straight for us. We played a deadly game of chicken before we made our move. I aimed quickly and took a shot. As I did the Dragon shot a fire ball at us but the rounds hit the Dragon making it miss us. It went down quickly.

Another one came up from behind us, I pumped the action and turned my body, aiming the gun with one hand I took another shot. The distances were short so I didn't have to compensate much for the shots. Operating the action again I aimed for another Dragon that was coming up to our 9-o-clock. With speed I aimed and shot him as well. Since he was on our side I had to lead the target, I missed the Dragon but hit the rider. That Dragon was ineffective now.

3 Dragons, 7 shots left. I quickly loaded 2 more bullets in the gun since we were safe for the moment. The skies was filled with winged beasts trying to get each other, slowly the land was getting dark because of the eclipse. In the distance I heard gun shots, no doubt DEVGRU had sprung their trap.

I looked at the ground and saw that the ground forces were not faring well, even with the help of DEVGRU, after all, they were very short on ammunition and their were ten times more men than bullets. The Griffins were getting torn to pieces and at this rate I won't be able to make it to the ship in time.

BOOOOM!

A thud hit my chest as I saw smoke from the Cannons on the ship. They began to fire at us. I could tell that their cannons were old European styled cannons, either made from brass or iron. The rounds they shot were air burst rounds. The technology is simple, fill a hollow cannon ball with gun powder and a small hole leading out. Fill that with a fuse and you have a cannon ball that will detonate in mid air.

I noticed that the explosions left white smoke and had yellow flames dancing around. I saw Griffins dropping left and right, the men and beast had severe burns all over them. This was white Phosphorous. Those bastards have what in some countries is considered an illegal weapon. That stuff is bad, it has little explosive power but releases a burning chemical substance that slowly and painfully kills its victim. The men are lucky that the fall would kill them, this stuff could take days to die from.

"Avoid the white smoke!" I yelled to Napoleon over the loud rush of the wind. "If you go in the white cloud don't breath, it's toxic!" Napoleon nodded. We were getting close before we heard a strange sound. Call me crazy but it sounded like a propeller plane.

"What is that!?" Napoleon yelled over the wind. I looked behind me and saw Saito in the Japanese Zero. I smiled, this just became winnable.

"He's a friend, concentrate on the objective!" I yelled. He nodded and then began to dodge the incoming artillery. Saito began to follow us and gave support, taking out any Dragons that tried to get near us. The ship, realizing it took out almost all of the Griffins began to turn in order to fire at the ground forces. A massive wave of 20 Dragons came for us. 1 Griffin and Zero fighter vs 20 Dragons, no problem. As the waves clashed I fired into the swarm, firing 3 shots and taking down 2 Dragons. Saito let out short controlled bursts with the plane.

In a little over a minute the Dragons were destroyed. I had some burn marks but nothing that won't heal, it wasn't even first degree. All of a sudden the ship fired at the ground forces, now that it had a line of fire. The broad side tore through the Tristain forces. I saw that the Dragon knights managed to retreat so they weren't caught in the fire. I had to act fast or else Tristain would be wiped out.

I finally reached the ship and let me tell you, it was massive. At least 3 times bigger than a European man of war, maybe the size of a modern battle ship. As we landed Napoleon drew his Sabre sword and began to fight, casting fire spells at enemies. My 12 gauge was spent so I switched to my Tommy gun. I took short bursts of 1 or 2 shots and began to take out enemies left and right.

Out of nowhere I was hit by a huge gust of wind. The wind blew the Thompson out of my hand and it went over board. I looked up to see Wardes pointing his... Dildo sword? I seriously have no idea what good that does... oh right, magic.

"You have impressed me a bit, but now you die!" He charged up a spell but I drew my side arm. I managed to get a shot off before a gust of wind blew me back again. I managed to hit Wardes sword hand so the blast did a grazing hit. Once again though I lost my gun. I got up quickly and drew my K-Bar knife from my shin and held it in my right hand in a reverse position. Wardes steadied his bleeding hand and got out a dagger.

In a second we charged each other, both of us screaming out in a gravely war cry. He stabbed at me with his straight dagger but I moved my head to the side, I grabbed his arm and twisted it so it fell out of his hand. He head butted me in the face and I stumbled back, letting go of his arm. I gave him a slash to the mid section but he avoided it, I only managed to get some of his clothes.

He gave me an uppercut to the jaw and I fell on my back. He got his dagger and prepared to end it. I pulled out my last flash bang and pulled the pin, gently tossing it to him. He caught it, then it blew. I covered my eyes so I wasn't blinded but he didn't. I picked my self up and walked over to him as he staggered to regain his sight. I grabbed his neck and plunged my K-Bar into his gut. I looked him in the eyes as his sight returned. He had a look of shock and anger.

"You won't win Commander, we will get revenge for this. " He coughed up some blood. I pushed him off the side of the ship and his bleeding body fell to the ground. The wound I gave him would take days to die from, but the fall would make it instant. I considered it a mercy killing.

"What, I can't here you from down there." I mocked. Another wave of shots hit the ground forces, no time to waste. I ran up to the mast and planted the C4. There was enough to take it out but it would be a close one. I ran and hid before hitting the detonator, after a big explosion that had my ears ringing, the mast began to fall.

The explosion and the mast falling caused the ship to move slightly, keeping the cannons pointed away from the ground. I looked down and saw that 1/3 of the forces were dead, at least I hope they're dead, I'd hate it if they lived through white Phosphorous explosions.

"Time to get out Napoleon!" I yelled to my ally, seeing him take out the last soldier on the deck.

"The ground forces are weakened, they won't be able to last against the remaining knights!" He was right, they were severely out numbered and most likely demoralized from that barrage. I also saw Fouquet with her rock Golem leading the charge. I thought that bitch was iced. "What's that?" He pointed to the west. I looked at the tree line and I could make out some very familiar shapes.

"That's the Calvary!" I shouted happily, seeing the NATO Military finally made it.

"Why aren't they doing anything!?" Napoleon yelled. Oh shit, rules of engagement. The knights were so focused with the Tristain Army that they won't be able to help.

"Do you know how to work a cannon!?" I yelled over the noise.

"Of course, it's like riding a Griffin to me!" He replied.

"We need to shoot them, not to actually hit them but enough to get them to fight back. Make sure you miss but also make sure it's close enough to seem like we're attacking them!" He looked at me shocked.

"You want to attack you own allies!?" He shouted.

"If the shot comes from the enemy ship they will fight! They won't attack unless they are attacked, again make sure you aim and don't hit them!" He nodded, understanding what we were doing. I hope no one finds out that I ordered this, I think I would be executed.

I used a damp sponge to clear any live embers in the Cannon, this prevented an early firing. After that we lined up the shot we began to load the weapon. First, I loaded in a powdered charge while Napoleon filled the whole for the fuse with additional powder. He took a pick and plucked a hole in the powder charge when it was in the back. Then I loaded a regular Cannon ball into the Cannon.

NATO forces were on a steep hill, by aiming in front of them the Cannon will bury itself in the hill side and not bounce through the lines. We lit the fuse and the Cannon fired.

BOOOM!

That massive thud from the chock wave hit us. All of a sudden the NATO forces moved out and began to descend to the Knights, prepared to take them out.

"The fight is ours Bitch!" I proclaimed to no one. Napoleon smiled and we knew it was time to get the hell off this thing.

BOOOOOM!

The ship jerked so hard that me and Napoleon fell on our faces.

"What was that!?" Napoleon screamed. I looked at the forces and saw trails of smoke that led from them to the ship. Damn, they have portable artillery. Either AT-4s or M27s. We're on this ship and I have no way of letting them know. Then again, I don't think I want them to know.

The sky was now dark because of the eclipse.

"We have to go NOW!" I screamed and ran for the Griffin, Napoleon right beside me. He jumped up on its back and I tried to follow. Another hit and I fell off the ship.

I plummeted to the ground which was pretty far down. I couldn't grab anything, even if I could I was falling to fast now. In a split second, a blue Dragon flew to me and caught me. It flew down with me and straightened itself when I was on to soften the landing enough to not injure me. We neared the ground but I couldn't hold on. I fell off the Dragon as well and landed on the soft grass.

Luckily I didn't hit the ground hard so I only got a few bruises and cuts. I just laid their for a moment, trying to catch my breath. Next thing I know, there is a huge flash of white light and I was completely blinded from it. When the light died down I saw the ship was plummeting towards me. Now, at the time I didn't notice how it was burned and completely destroyed, I had other things on my mind, like running.

I got up and ran as fast as I could away from the falling ship. I ran so fast I swear I broke the record for the fastest sprint. It landed and started to skid towards me. Before it hit me though it slowed down enough for me to safely get away.

I stood their, my hands on my knees and panting like a hot dog. That was without a doubt the worst experience of my life, and I can name some pretty bad times. I looked around a surveyed the area. The Knights surrendered when they knew they were no match for NATO. Saito crash landed in a clearing not far from me and Fouquet was no where to be seen. All in all, a good day. In the distance I saw Henrietta's horse gallop up to me.

"Commander Riptide, are you OK!?" She yelled, getting off to see if I was hurt.

"Physically, yes. Although a few weeks in therapy should get rid of the mental scarring of that long fucking drop." I laughed.

"What's a Feropy?" She asked, I laughed a bit at that.

"Nothing." I said.

"You were right, those magical muskets were amazing, I can't believe how powerful your kingdom is." She said happily.

For the moment, I could relax and revel in the victory we have just achieved. Now time for the boring part, politics.

**End Chapter 10 **

3 Chapters in 2 days, not bad. Well, season 1 is over, now we get to the good stuff. Like I said, because of our interference the story will change slightly. Battles and events will happen slightly differently but it will stay faithful to the show. With the exception of every female character becoming a whore for Saito. To those who hate Siesta and other girls like her, you will like them here. Siesta will be portrayed as she did in the first season, a shy and nice girl and she will be far more likable. Let's face it, the fan service in this show really distracts from the good stuff. Very little, almost no unnecessary fan service will be in this story.


	11. Chapter 11: Get your Dress Blues

**Chapter 11: Get your Dress Blues. **

It was good to finally be in a different change of uniform. I've worn those fucking Camo fatigues for way too long now. After a good bath and a change of uniform I felt ten times better.

I was in my dress blues, the formal uniform of the US Navy and currently in the medical wing of the building. My nose apparently broke after Wardes head butted me, but it was straight now, it looks good now but it's still tender. Guess I shouldn't complain, there are dozens of men here with severe burns from the battle. luckily though, for some of them the wonders of magical medicine is amazing. They'll be scarred but alive. Most though, may not make another day.

After getting checked up I went down to the throne room where the meeting would take place. It had been 3 days since the battle and NATO soldiers made a camp out in the castle courtyard. For the sake of diplomacy the soldiers were forbidden to leave the courtyard and the servants were forbidden to talk to them.

Captain... sorry, newly appointed Rear Admiral Walker came up to me. He's been working for months to get a promotion and he finally got one, thanks in small part to me. The 40 year old Officer walked up to me and shook my hand.

"Good to see you again, how have things here treated you?" His uniform was a bit different, even though we were told to be formal he got out his kilt anyway. He is from a long line of Scottish ancestors going back to the days of the vikings. He is very passionate about his heritage. His uniform was exactly like mine, just that he had a kilt instead of pants. There are rumors going around that he doesn't wear underwear but I never wanted to find out, some things are better kept secret.

"Only easy day was yesterday, so not bad." I replied. Walker was always a very inspirational and charismatic man. After all, he trained me since I first got my Trident. He was a Commander back then and took me under his wing in ST10, he showed me the ropes and taught me lessons you don't learn in training. Our tough Military respect hides the years of admiration I've had for him. He's like the father I never had... whoa, too much information. No, I'm not saying anything about my home life.

"Well, you are officially a Captain now, we'll give you the ceremony when we get back home but there are more important things right now." I nodded. Being the highest ranking US Officer here he had full control of the US forces. Since I was right below him I was his second in Command.

"No problem, I'm personally glad I don't have to go through the wetting ceremony." I laughed. Long story, I'll explain later. I met the 2 US representatives, John Fitzgerald and Winston R. Portsmouth. NATO decided to send 3 main Representatives. Walker was one of them, he would handle all negotiations of the UN Military presence in Halkeginia, Fitzgerald was a US politician and he would handle the Economic trading negotiations. Lastly, the British politician, former SAS and Fleet Admirable, Winston would handle the civilian relations and the relationships between the 2 worlds.

"Good day to you sir." Winston shook my hand.

"To you as well." I said. I also greeted John but he didn't say much.

"OK Captain, I hope your ready for this." I nodded. The servants had arranged a long rectangular table to be placed in the room to allow seating accommodations. The newly appointed queen Henrietta is sitting on her Throne on the far end of the table. She had a look of grace that many royals had.

I took my seat next to my reps and took a small breath to calm my nerves. DEVGRU was now fully outfitted with armor and weapons and acted as a security detail. They had ballistic helmets, sunglasses and all had multi-camo BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform).

"Everyone, please take your seat and we can begin." Henrietta said in a powerful yet soft voice. Everyone took their seats and there was a moment of silence. I noticed that some of the Nobles looked familiar. There was Duke De La Valliere who I later found out was Louise's father, Duchess Karin Desiree De La Valliere, Louise's mother, and General Gramont, Guiche's father. The other Nobles were more or less faceless to me but they all had a purpose. "So, I believe you would like to start Admiral?" Henrietta pointed to Rear Admiral Walker.

"That's Rear Admiral miss, there is a difference." Walker cleared his throat. "As you know, we are a new Nation here in these lands. All we seek is peace and maybe some trading. For all questions about our Military presence here you will refer to me, for questions of economic importance you will refer to MR. John Fitzgerald. And lastly, to deal with public relations you will refer to Mr. Winston R. Portsmouth." Walker got into a brief description of our organization. "We are 3 countries from NATO, which stands for the 'North Atlantic Treaty Organization'. I am with the United States of America, arguably referred to as the strongest Military might of the world. Canada, which also has a good Military and the United Kingdom." Walker pointed out which rep was with which country.

"Mind if I ask what kind of Mage you are, Rear Admiral?" A Noble asked.

"Pardon?" Walker didn't quite get what he meant.

"What kind of magic can you use?" The Noble asked again. Walker thought for a moment, thinking carefully of what he was going to say.

"Until the Captain arrived here, the idea of magic has been considered false and a story. That being said, the idea of magic is still foreign to our Nations and so I am not a Mage and can not preform magic." Silence. Everyone looked shocked at the information, I could tell things were going to get complicated.

"You mean to say you are a Nation of Commoners!?" The same Noble yelled. Henrietta looked surprised as well, she seemed to be a bit angry at me lying to her about having magic.

"Well, if by Commoner you mean someone who can not preform magic then yes, we are commoners." Walker said with conviction.

"Your highness, you can not allow something like this to go on." Another Noble called to the Queen.

"I personally would like to see that." I spoke up in a sarcastic tone. "Let's not forget that we used up some of our resources in order to help you in the invasion, without us you would all be dead most likely." I said with an irritated tone.

"We would have managed just fine, we do not need the aid of some commoners, especially a Nation run by them." He spat in my direction.

"That is enough!" Winston stood up from his seat. "We are what we are and if you have any ideas of declaring a war with us then you are more than welcome too, but we will not simply sit here and be insulted by you. We have clearly demonstrated our Military might and we will soon have more soldiers on the way. For what Albion did, attacking the soldiers who arrived here," I kind of turned my head. "and their refusal to answer our calls for a truce we have had no choice but to declare war on them. If anything we are Nations with a common interest and enemy. We shouldn't squabble over status or reduce ourselves to racism but instead for an alliance in order to combat this threat to both of us." Winston spoke with such power it was hard to not respect him. His 30 year Military lifestyle made him into a powerful leader.

"I agree fully to that." Fitzgerald stood as well. "There are many things our Nations could offer each other, it would be unwise to refuse us, even more so to attack us and declare war." Fitzgerald wasn't as powerful as a speaker. He seemed more like an executive, he had a smooth way of talking and had a look that said he wanted to cash in on a good deal. He was a former business tycoon and at 1 point had 3 major companies before moving to politics. He looked like the kind of guy you wanted to work with, but didn't trust.

"And what do we have to fear from Commoners such as yourself?" The Noble laughed.

"Enough, everyone sit!" Henrietta said loudly. "Despite their Heretic ways." I couldn't help but thing, what a bitch. "40 of their soldiers defeated hundreds of Albion's Elite Dragon Knights, without losing a single man. Their should cannons completely destroyed the Albion ship in seconds. Despite how they may run their Nation their is no mistake that this Military is strong. If we declared war on them it would no doubt mean the destruction of Tristain." Henrietta said.

"But your highness, you can't possibly be thinking of allying with these commoners?" A Noble said.

"We have no choice, the only way to defeat Albion is with their help. Without them, we will all fall." Henrietta said with a sad look. "What are the terms of this treaty Rear Admiral?" Henrietta turned to Walker.

"For our Military, we simply seek a bit of land until we find a more permanent settlement. Also, in the event that Albion falls and we succeed we also want to have Albion as our own. A land where we can set up a permanent settlement here for future trading and negotiations. We also request some other rights, such as the rights to recruit Tristain citizens into a sort of mercenary military to aid us in the fight since our government is using minimal resources in this war. That is essentially what we want, I will document it and give the paper for you to read over later but that is the basic outline." Walker said.

"And what do we get in exchange?" Henrietta asked.

"We are willing to give you, if you so desire, more knowledge in medical, biological, technical and astronomical sciences. This could help improve the lives of citizens here, not to mention the tradings of metals, resources, supplies and the knowledge to create things like plastic, rubber and other man made materials. For obvious reasons we will not under any circumstances give away any Military weapons, technology or tactics. Finally, we are aiding you in this unprovoked war with Albion so the Albion land and a few other things would be greatly appreciated." Walker said.

"I see, until you get official documentation down I will consider your request." Henrietta said. "Now about the trading agreements..." She looked to Fitzgerald.

"Yes, well." Fitzgerald began. "for the trading agreements I would suggest the trade of resources. We give you resources and you give us resources. Our country isn't doing the best financially so in exchange for metals and supplies we request gold. It's a fair enough agreement." He said.

"I believe that will be helpful, Tristain is not the wealthiest country but we can use gold as a commodity. Get it written and we will sign for it." Fitzgerald nodded. "Finally, I would like to know what would happen if any of your people attacked mine?" Henrietta turned to the British politician, Winston.

"Personally, given the Caste System you have here I am more concerned for my own men. I suggest that we deal with our criminals as normal. If one of your men attacks mine then you may punish him as you see fit, as long as the punishment matches the crime. This will also work in reverse." Winston said.

"How do you deal with your criminals?" Henrietta asked.

"Simple really. For the moment you will only have Military personnel and scientists. Depending on the severity of the crime it could be a night in prison, dishonorable discharge or execution." Winston said. "However my men are authorized to defend themselves, if attacked with lethal force they are ordered to shoot. As long as they are not attacked their will be no problems." Henrietta nodded.

"I believe that is all we have to discus. General Gramont, you will speak with Rear Admiral Walker and Comma... Captain Riptide about the Military accommodations." Henrietta continued and appointed jobs for her Generals and Nobles. "Lastly, before we make this treaty official you must write up an official paper stating your intentions, what you want and willing to give. You will present this document tomorrow and we will meet again to discus it. If everyone is satisfied we will make up an official final draft, sign and the treaty will be put into effect." Everyone nodded. "Before we end this meeting there is one final thing to discus." All the Nobles nodded their heads but all the Earthlings had no idea why.

"What's this about?" Walker asked.

"We must set up marriage arrangements." Henrietta said with no hesitation at all. If we were drinking water at the time I have no doubt we would have started choking right now.

"Excuse me?" Walker asked, I turned to him.

"It's a marriage of convenience to strengthen ties between Nations. You know, like back during the Victorian or Elizabethan age." I said.

"You miss understand your Majesty, we do not negotiate like that. Marriage or not we will honor the deals we made. Besides, I can not force one of my own men into a marriage like that." Walker said.

"So you would ruin centuries of tradition? Commoner filth." A Noble spat out from the other side of the table.

"And you would put us in a position we can not work with? You have your traditions and we have ours." Walker said.

"But you are Commoners, you should listen to your superiors." He retorted.

"You Highness, if we are to be insulted like this at every turn than I fear we must call off the peace treaty and try our luck on our own." Walker turned to the Queen.

"My apologies Rear Admiral." She said, she turned to the other Nobles. "I said that is enough. We need their aid against Albion. If anyone else speaks out against them they will be disgraced and lose all Noble privileges." The room quieted down instantly.

"Then that is it, we will continue this tomorrow once we have made up the Document." Walker stated. At that, everyone left. As we headed out the door Walker came up to me. "Hey kid, you look beat. Go take the day off." He said. "You've earned a breather." I nodded. The thought of a good days rest sounded good to me.

I wandered the hall for a moment, trying to find my way to the courtyard where the NATO guys were until I saw Henrietta walking up to me with an angry look on her face. Got to admit, she looked cute angry.

SLAP!

"Ow, the fuck was that for!" I said, my cheek still stinging from the painful slap.

"For lying to me!" She tried to slap me again but I ducked it.

"Is this because I'm a Commoner." She got even angrier at that.

"How dare you accuse me of unprovoked hatred!" She yelled. She sniffed a little, trying to hold back some tears. "I would have been fine if you were a Commoner from the start. I still would have aided you and have met your people, you did save my life. But you lied to me and betrayed my trust!" Seriously, why is she freaking out like this!?

"I'm sorry, but seriously where is this coming from? I know I lied but I was on a mission." I said trying to defend myself.

"Mission?" She looked really hurt. "You lied to me for that? To me? Have I not helped you out when you came to me? Even if you didn't save my life I would have still aided you. You didn't need to deceive me like that." She said angrily.

"I had a job to do, I'm sorry but I needed the information and to avoid trouble." I said with my arms raised in case she tried to hit me again.

"Just leave me alone." She turned and left me alone. Before she did I saw a single tear escape her eye.

"You came up to me and slapped ME. Seriously, what the fuck?" I said as she left. I just stood their in a daze for a second, my mind slowly registering what just happened. I had no idea why she reacted like that. Sure, I lied but it's not like I meant any harm. Man my cheek stung, how can someone so small hit that hard?

Getting that moment out of my head I continued to the courtyard. There I met Saito and Louise. They were watching the soldiers with interest. Well Louise was, Saito was kind of bored. Can't blame Louise though, the weapons, outfits, lingo and everything was completely foreign to her. I doubt anyone here has ever seen something like this, these men just hanging around, cleaning their weapons and making the tents.

"How you kids doing?" I asked.

"Pretty good, you." Saito said.

"Riptide, what are they doing there?" Louise said as the Royal Marines were doing suicide runs.

"They're exercising, it keeps the blood flowing." I answered.

"Eugene?" I heard someone say. "Eugene Leckie? That you old friend?" I turned to see one of the Army Rangers coming up to me.

"Rob Sledge?" I replied to him. We went up to each other and gave each other a hug.

"Your name is Eugene?" Saito snickered. "Man, that just blew your bad ass image." Saito laughed harder.

"Don't remind me, I got picked on enough in middle school with that name." I said with a downcast look. "How you been old friend?" I asked.

"Me and Rob go back, we met in high school and became good friends with our interest in the Military. He wanted to join the Green Berets but unlike the SEALs you need some years in service before you can even go into training. So he opted for the next best thing, the Army Rangers. "How you been Private?" I asked.

"Excuse me, it's Staff Sergeant, so I best see a salute." He laughed.

"Well, I'm a Captain, so I outrank you." I laughed. A Staff Sergeant is one of the lower ranks in the Army. Normally, a Sergeant first class has command of a Platoon but in some cases, in the absence of a SFC a Staff Sergeant can have command of a Platoon.

"Yea well, fuck you. So what are you doing here?" He asked me.

"I was the first one in, I had to scout out the area and do some... well, that's classified. Anyway, I had to go into low Earth orbit and do a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jump from 40,000 feet. Damn near killed me." We shared a laugh. "Tell you the truth we weren't expecting any intelligent life here, imagine my surprise when I found out that there is intelligent life here." He nodded.

"Well shit, it's good to see you though. You heading home?" He asked.

"Most likely. Personally I want to get back ASAP. This place is nice and all, but I think I like the idea of using a car better than a horse." Rob nodded.

"If you get back, tell the old lady I said hi." He said.

"I will, when you get back you have to come over, we'll go to a bar, watch the EAGLES game, all that good stuff." I said.

"Fuck the EAGLES, COWBOYS all the way." We pounded our fists and he went back to the drills for the Rangers. I decided to get some shut eye so I walked over to a nice shady spot on the ground and closed my eyes.

I awoke the next morning with a minor crick in my neck but otherwise good. It was dawn and the sun was almost above the horizon. Nothing like a good 12 hour nap to cure the mind. All of a sudden I saw Agnes run up to me.

"We need your help." She said reluctantly.

"What's up Athos." I said.

"It's Agnes, but listen the Queen was kidnapped last night." I was up in a heart beat.

"What? What do you mean kidnapped?" I said.

"What it says, she's gone and last seen being taken by some man in a blue outfit." Agnes repeated.

"You're her body guard, weren't you supposed to be watching her!?" I began to yell.

"I tried, but she ordered us out for the night, said she wanted to be alone for a bit!" Agnes yelled back.

"Damn!" I cursed. "Where did they head off too?" I asked.

"They headed east from here, I know the road. If we hurry up we'll be able to catch up to them. Saito is using the Robe of the Dragon to catch up faster." I nodded. I ran to the tent where Rob was, he was doing some morning push ups. When he saw the serious look on my face he instantly got up.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"The Queen has been kidnapped. I'm going to go get her but I need a gun. You have any I could borrow?" Rob nodded his head.

"All I can spare is my .45." He said as he dug through his trunk.

"That will work just fine." He handed me an old Military M1911A1 pistol. He always like the .45 caliber round, an the mags he had could put in 8 bullets, not just 7. He gave me it and 3 mags, which I pocketed in my coat pocket. For the record, I'm still wearing my formal dress blues but there was no time to get ready. Agnes lead me to the horses and I hoped on as quick as I could. Right before we exited the gate Walker stopped us.

"Captain, what the hell is going on?" He asked.

"The Queen has been kidnapped and I'm going to go get her." I said in a hurry.

"Hold it, we'll dispatch the Rangers to do a sweep of the area." I waved it off.

"There is no time, we have a lead and if we wait to regroup the tracks will go cold, me and Agnes can handle this sir, trust me." Reluctantly, the Rear Admiral nodded and I was off. I followed right behind Agnes with her Musketeer guards right next to me. Each one of them carried 3 muskets in a bag on the horse and had 3 pistols strapped to their bodies. Agnes had a look of absolute hatred and determination in her eyes as she road to catch up with the kidnapper.

I don't know what it is but I feel as though I have to save the Queen. This goes beyond the fact that she is our main link to the population of this world but there is something else forcing me to do this. Personally, I think I'm over thinking this. I just feel guilty is all, if she hadn't been sad this never would have happened so I can't just let her get taken like this. Or at least, that's what I told myself.

**End Chapter 11 **

OK, I had to do a bit of editing. Thank you too my reviewers for helping me out, I really appreciate it.


	12. Chapter 12: God Save the Queen

**Chapter 12: God Save the Queen **

Agnes was in front, riding at break neck speed while I took up the rear. I had no idea what I was up against so I let them in front of me so they could help me figure out my enemy. By the way, they told me to stay back so I'm not heartlessly using them as bait. It just kind of worked out that way.

"What are the reports of the kidnapping? Do we have any leads or suspects?" I asked Agnes.

"Just that a man in a blue coat has been spotted in the castle and he made off with the Queen." Agnes replied.

"And it never occurred to you to look for this man?" I asked.

"We tried, but we could find nothing. Odds are, he's a triangle Mage and is out of the league of someone who isn't trained to fight against magic." Agnes said.

"I can handle myself, I took out Wardes, how hard could a would be assassin be?" I said.

"You killed the traitor Wardes? How is that possible?" Agnes turned her head.

"Mage's are easy to fight, all you have to do is take their wand from them and they're no match." I said.

"I'll have to remember that." Agnes said to herself.

"So tell me, why do you use muskets in a world of Magic? Seems kind of pointless." I said to her.

"It's the only defense a Commoner has." Agnes said.

"Wait, you can't use magic?" I asked Agnes with a shocked expression.

"No I can't, which is why I have trained myself to fight without magic and learned how to fire a musket." Suddenly I started to feel a bit bad for accusing Henrietta of hating me because of my lack of magic. To appoint a Commoner to such a high position in a society that spits at them takes a great amount of caring, understanding and kindness. This feeling only fueled my desire to save her, to at least apologize for what I said. Mind you, I still don't feel bad about lying. I knew that I did the right thing, I still don't know why she reacted like that.

"That's very admirable, we should have a friendly contest later on." I smiled at her. Agnes looked back at me and glared. It wasn't a glare of hatred or annoyance however. It's hard to say but the glare looks like a confident friendly way of her accepting.

Turning back to the road we saw the Kidnapper in the distance. He looked average I guess, blond hair, expensive suit, pretty average for this world. Henrietta was resting in his lap and for some reason that got my blood boiling. Personally I was afraid for the Queens safety, someone as young and beautiful as her would get severely abused by kidnappers.

"Aim for the horse, do not hit her highness!" Agnes yelled out he command as the musketeers aimed their guns at the man.

"Hold your fire, with these horses bouncing and how inaccurate muskets are you will hit the Queen!" I yelled out to Agnes. The man pointed his wand at us and fired, sort of. Instantly the ground in front of me exploded and Agnes and her Musketeers fell of their horses. Luckily I was far back enough to avoid falling and ran right through the smoke. I couldn't waste time checking on them, I knew that it missed them and aside from a few bruises from the fall they would be OK. I had to focus on saving the Princess.

Luckily the kidnapper turned his back, believing us to be gone so I could sneak up to him. I hit the reins hard enough to get the horse in a dead sprint, coming up to the side of the blonde haired kidnapper.

"Riptide!" Henrietta shouted out in surprise as I came into view. The kidnapper looked at me with surprise before I took out my switch blade from my pocket in a reveres grip and stabbed at the man. I always keep a switch on me at all times and my pistol will do no good here. I don't want to hit Henrietta with a misplaced shot.

The kidnapper blocked my arm before the blade could hit his chest and he twisted it out of my hand, he then threw a straight punch that nailed me right in my face. I barely felt the hit because I could tell this man is a Mage through and through so because of that his physical strength is lacking. I threw a punch of my own but he managed to angle his head to dodge hit.

"Riptide, Stop It!" Henrietta yelled at me but I could barely hear her. I wrapped my arm closest to him and got the bastard in a head lock, then I preceded to punch his ribs. After seeing little effect I re-positioned the head lock so that his jugular was in between my fore arm and bicep. In this action I had to jump from my horse and onto the back of his. In this choke hold it only takes a few seconds to shut down the arteries in the neck and make him pass out.

The man elbowed me in the ribs, loosening my grip and head butted me with the back of his head. I was falling back but managed to grab his hair and stop from falling off. He grunted as his hair was pulled but I managed to pull myself up. I then sent a downward elbow to in between his shoulder and neck, making him grunt in pain. I elbowed him in the back of the head to try and knock him out. I then elbowed the back of his neck but nothing worked. Those 3 hits in succession would even knock me out. He may not be able to hit hard but he can sure take a hit.

He spun his torso in order to send his elbow crashing into my face. Even though it was weak it still hurt and I could still see stars. He tried the same thing but I blocked his elbow and managed to grab his arm. I twisted it behind his back and heard the satisfying sounds of ligaments and joints popping and tearing. His arm was done for good, this kind of injury will never let him use it properly again.

He gave one last good head butt and I fell off, this time not being able to grab anything. I hit the ground, rolling head over ass before sliding to a halt. Not going to lie, that hurt. I just sat there for a second, watching the horse ride away with the captured Queen. Hopefully she can escape on her own since the mans arm is practically destroyed.

Picking my bruised and bloodied body off the ground I took off my suit jacket and tie. I rolled up my sleeves and made sure the laces on my dress shoes were tight, I even double knotted them. Making sure the .45 was securely held in my belt and the extra mags were pocketed I began to jog in the direction of the horse, making sure to follow the hoof prints. I jogged at half my actual speed so I didn't tire myself out. At this speed I could run 4 miles in less than 27 minutes. I'm used to it by now, just to get into BUDS you have to be able to run 4 miles in 32 minutes, factor in the years of jogging this speed was easy. At this speed I could probably run for 12 hours straight before getting tired. I knew guys who could run 2 days straight without stopping.

Running in dress shoes is harder than it looks. Already I can feel a blister forming on the back of my heels. I ignore the pain because I new that the Queen was in danger. Without her, the entire political situation would destabilize between our worlds. I can't allow that to happen, what ever it takes I will save her.

I ran until it got dark, I could tell by the spacing of the tracks that the horse slowed down to a walking pace and the tracks were getting fresh. I guessed that I was only an hour away now. The blisters on my heels were already starting to bleed, I could feel a bit of blood soak my sock. I knew I couldn't just take off the shoes or else they'll get badly cut up from the ground.

Finally I found them, the kidnapper was going at a slower pace and heading towards a lake. I took out the .45, got into a kneeling firing position and aimed at the horse. and I calmed my heavy breathing to get a good shot. Since I wasn't bouncing like hell from the horse I had enough confidence to take a shot. I lined up the sites, the front site went in between the the 2 back sites. I picked my target to be the back part of the horse. I aimed so that the front site was over the target, obstructing my view. I focused my vision so that the front site was clear and the target was blurry. You never fire if the front site is blurry, it screws up the shot.

This particular .45 was a single action weapon. Normally for a double action you can either manually pull the hammer back, or pull the trigger which operates the hammer. It's better to manually do it because all it takes is a twitch to fire, as apposed to more pressure on the trigger which would screw up the shot. Single actions are where it doesn't fire unless the hammer is back. Colt .45s come in both sets. For revolvers it can make a big deal because you have to manually cock it back each time you fire. For an automatic, the recoil automatically puts the hammer back making it semi-automatic. With just a small twitch of my finger the gun fired.

BANG!

.45s are loud as all hell but it did its job. The horse fell and took down the kidnapper and the Queen. A few small scrapes are OK as long as there is nothing permanent. I moved in a fast marching pace, the gun always being pointed at the kidnapper. Henrietta saw this and did something I completely did not expect, she put herself between me and him.

"Please don't!" She cried out to me. I just stood there, shocked at what's going on. Why was she defending him?

"What the hell are you doing Henrietta?" I asked her with a stern voice.

"Please don't, it's Prince Wales, he's not kidnapping me, I went with him." Henrietta said.

"The Prince is dead." I argued. Henrietta shook her head.

"No, that was a double, he's alive and here right now." Henrietta said. I lowered my gun and got a good look at the man.

"What she says is the truth, I have come here to take her away from the war." Wales said with a sly smile.

"So you'd abandon everything Henrietta?" I asked her and she froze up.

"I can't lose him again, you must understand." Henrietta said as a tear fell down her face.

"Yea, I understand." I said with a scowl and anger in my voice. "I understand that you would rather abandon all those who look up to you, all those you call friends just to be with him, your cousin for God's sake. You would just leave your friends to die in some war, to watch Louise, Agnes and everyone else lose their lives. To leave the fate of Tristain in the hands of my Nation, to create a war against my people to "Cleanse" the sinful Nation of the evil Commoners. I expected better from you." I spit on the ground as a sign of disrespect. I don't know why I felt this way, I just did. Normally I could control my emotions but I was becoming emotionally compromised. If any of my superiors saw this I would be going home for being compromised but I just couldn't help it. I felt betrayed and angry at Henrietta for what she did and most of all, I just didn't like Wales for some unknown reason.

All of a sudden the Japanese Zero flew right into the lake behind Wales and Henrietta. Then, Tabitha's blue dragon dropped down right behind me. I saw Kirche and Tabitha get off the Dragon and Saito and Louise get out of the Zero. Wales was now surrounded.

"Return the Queen to us!" Saito shouted at Wales.

"What a foolish thing to say, the Queen came with me of her own free will." Wales said as he wrapped his broken arm around... Wait, I was sure I broke his arm. How the hell can he still move it?

"What?" Saito asked.

"My lady." Louise repeated the shocked expression.

"Wales, don't tell me that you were revived with the Ring of Advari." Saito asked Wales. The ring of what? Revived? What's he talking about? At this point it began to rain and thunder, almost as if it was echoing the strong emotions felt in this conflict.

"Ring of Advari eh?" Wales let out a sinister laugh. "I have heard of it." He smiled with a nasty look at Saito. "It is a magic ring that grants false life, right?" He said. False life? Does that mean he was brought back? "If that were true it would be a frightening thing." My eyes went wide.

"Henrietta, get away from him!" I yelled. She looked back at me, conflicted about what is going on. "He's dead, he was brought back by that ring, you have to get away from him!" Henrietta narrowed her eyes in a sense of false determination.

"The one who died was Sir Wales double, this is Sir Wales himself." She denied.

"Now move yourself from my path." Wales smirked at we with an evil grin. I can't describe it, but I saw it in his eyes. Something about them felt dead and lifeless. Out of nowhere Tabitha shot ice spikes at him, going through his torso and embedding themselves in a tree. He was impaled in multiple places, he can't survive.

"It's meaningless, your attacks can not wound me." He laughed as right before my eyes the wounds closed and he was left unharmed. I aimed my gun and hit him right in they eye, hoping that a shot to the head would take him down. Apparently Zombie movies got it wrong as that healed as well.

"Sir Wales." Henrietta whispered as she backed away in fear. Kirche fired a massive fire blast at Wales which he blocked easily with a green force field or something.

"I said it is meaningless!" He yelled as he blasted Kirche and Tabitha. Next thing I know, they're just gone, laying knocked out a few feet away. I will kill that son of a bitch.

"Your highness, you saw that did you not?" Louise tried to argue with Henrietta. "He's a phantom with a false life." Louise reasoned. Henrietta just stood there, transfixed at what had happened. It looked as though she was trying to find out what to do and who to believe.

"No." She whispered to herself, clutching her wand in her chest like a life line. "No." She said louder shaking her head. "This cannot be true." She said, still trying to deny what she just saw. "He said he would love me for all eternity." She looked at us.

"You must not believe him!" Louise shouted.

"Louise, have you ever loved someone from the bottom of your heart?" Henrietta cried out. If you truly loved someone... you would follow that person, even if it meant casting aside everything." She began to cry. "So please let me go Louise." She cried.

"No princess." Louise said without any pause. "Please open your eyes." She begged.

"This is an order from your Queen." Henrietta said. "This is... my last order to you. Move out of the way."

"Save the sleep talking for bed." Saito jumped in. "That... isn't love or anything." Saito held his sword in front of him, ready for a fight.

"Please Saito, I have made my decision." Henrietta said finally and moved next to Wales. "I will follow Wales."

"I will not let you leave Henrietta, I won't stand by and watch you die." I said, moving next to Louise and Saito, my 6 foot height dwarfing the 2 teens. I charged at Wales, getting ready to throw a punch to his face. He laughed at me and waved his wand at me. All of a sudden I was pushed back by a powerful gust of wind. My gun is useless and I'm up against a triangle Mage. There is nothing I can do, unless I can get close I'm finished. I charged again but was blocked again, this time by a wall of ice.

"I won't let you lay even a finger on Sir Wales." Henrietta stared at me with determination. The wall was created by her. I felt hurt and betrayed at what she has just done. She would fight me to protect the shell of her former love? "Please, don't get in my way." Henrietta said as her hands trembled while holding the wand. "I beg you, please move aside." She begged to me with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, that is for the best, we only wish to pass by." Wales held Henrietta's wand hand and helped her point it at us. "Unite the Water Triangle and the Wind Triangle!" He shouted as a tornado of wind and water came at us. Saito stepped in front of me and somehow managed to block it with his sword.

"Saito, keep him busy!" I yelled over the noise and ran around the Tornado. Wales was so focused he didn't see me come around. Before I could reach him, Henrietta got in front of me and pointed her wand at my chest. I stopped right there and we stared at the other for a moment, not uttering a word.

"Please." She finally whispered to me. I just stood my ground. Without my gun I am powerless. Even this young queen can stop we without any trouble. For the first time I truly felt like a Commoner and understood why their customs are like this. Even this young girl, who has been pampered her whole life could kill me with barely a word. This petite girl can kill me, an elite battle hardened warrior with years of training and experience without any trouble. Without my gun, I am truly defenseless.

"Do it." I said. I grabbed the wand and dug it into my own throat. "Come on, what are you waiting for, do it!" I said louder. Henrietta's tear soaked eyes were wide with fear and pain. She knew that if she let me pass, Wales would die. The only way to stop we was to injure, maybe even kill me. "DO IT!" I shouted. She broke down, her wand dropped from her hands and she collapsed to her knees in a fit of sobs. I sort of froze there, hurt that I had to push her to this point. I my self was conflicted, killing Wales would completely destroy her, maybe even make her hate me. All that washed away when I knew that her life was on the line here. I ran past her and got Wales in a full Nelson, stopping the attack and saving Saito.

"Do something!" I screamed at Saito. Louise was reading a spell from a book and trying to find a way to kill this soulless immortal. After a moment of struggling a lightning bolt slammed down and hit Wales. The force launched me 10 feet back and giving me minor electrical burn all over my arms. Wales screamed bloody murder as he was hit.

Henrietta slowly walked towards the now still former Prince. His body was covered in a small layer of dust and he had a look in his eye. It was different somehow, as if he woke up from a dream. The young Queen kneeled down at his side, tears once again forming in her eyes. Wales cupped her cheek as she held him in her arms.

"Sir Wales." She whispered to him. We all gathered around him, Kirche and Tabitha now awake from the blast.

"Henrietta." Wales whispered back in a voice filled with pain. "Do not cry." He struggled to say. "Even though I was being controlled, I want you to fogive me for what I had done, and Promise me Henrietta."

"I will promise you anything." She said as she held his hand that was slowly caressing her face. "What must I promise?"

"That you will forget me." He said with a sad smile on his face. "Promise me that you will forget everything about me, and love another man." Henrietta's eyes widened. "I want to hear those words from you, by this Lagorian lake... to the Spirit of Water."

"I can not possibly promise such a thing." Henrietta refused.

"Please Henrietta." Wales choked out.

"No, I can not." Henrietta shook her head, trying to deny him his last wish. "I can not make a false promise. I can not."

"I no longer have time left in me." He struggled.

"Then please, promise with me, that you'll love me... That you'll love me forever. If you swear Sir Wales, the real Sir Wales would swear, then the oath would be made." Henrietta tried desperately.

"I would like to, if I could... but the deceased can not promise an eternity Henrietta... Forgive me Henrietta... I could not say those words 3 years ago either. Because our fate was never bound to be." Wales choked as a wound in his chest opened up and pored out blood. "I'm glad I met you, Henrietta." Wales turned to me, reaching out with his hand for me. I kneeled down and took it, almost as if trying to keep him tethered to this world. "Please, protect her, don't let them hurt her..." He said to me. I didn't say a word, I didn't even nod my head. Wales looked into my eyes and saw that the promise was made. I didn't have to even move, my eyes told him that I would keep that promise till the day I die. Before passing into the next life, he turned to Henrietta one last time. "I have always loved you." And his eyes once again grew dull and lifeless, this time forever.

"Sir Wales. Sir Wales!" Henrietta tried to shake him. "Please, open your eyes!" She shouted. "Sir Wales!" She screamed desperately. "Sir Wales!" She buried her head in his blood soaked chest and cried. I could feel that everyone was trying to hold their tears, even I felt them come, but pushed them down. We all stood there, petrified with guilt, anger and sorrow.

Henrietta bolted from Wales and straight towards me. She began to hit my chest, crying as she did so.

"Why, Why did you kill him!" She cried, her hits never faltering but I could barely feel them. She was too weak to really hurt me, but even if she could I doubt I would feel it through this haze of sorrow I felt. Without muttering a word I grabbed her wrists and stopped her. She struggled for a moment before looking into my eyes. Her face was soaked with Wales blood and her own tears, the rain slowly wiping both from her face. Her purple hair, soaked to the core with rain water clung to her face.

She buried her head into my chest and cried once again. This is the second time I held her this way, and once again my heart ached for her. The pain of losing the man she loved twice was too much for her to carry on her own. Frankly I don't remember how long we all stood there, I barely remember anything after that, not until the next morning when the high of our emotions had faded like a bad hangover.

**End Chapter 12 **


	13. Chapter 13: Signing of the Treaty

**Chapter 13: Signing of the Treaty **

I ran as fast as I could, ignoring the burning pain in my heels from the blisters, focusing on the ground just under my feet. I was thankful to have my boots and BDU again. After pushing my body the extra few feet I passed the finish line, Rob trailing just behind me.

"Not bad, I'll get you next time." He laughed as we bent down to catch our breaths. After a 2 hour nap I got right up and started doing some PT with the Rangers to stay in shape. We were getting ready for a little competition with the Royal Marines and Canadian Army. The 3 most fit guys on each one goes head to head in some exercises and we start placing our bets. In this case the last 6 men crossed the finish line, so me, Rob and Sergeant Alex Tsougi would be going at it.

"You've said that all throughout high school and you'll never get me now." I laughed at my best friends expense.

"Oh shut up you 2, save it for the enemy." Alex laughed with us. "Time to show these "Jolly Blokes" not to mess with Amurika." Alex joked while making stereotypes of both places.

"Hooyah", "Hooah." Me and Rob said at the same time. We both straitened our backs and got ready for the challenge. On the Royal Marines side we had Saddler, Dack and Haytham. On the Canadians side we had Patrice, Howard and Bob. First competition, most push ups.

By now we had gotten quite the crowd. We were in a small field outside of the Palace and many Commoners came out to see us. Apparently they wanted to see the new "Commoner Army" that has been going around. Word got out quick about us and while some... Well, all of the Nobles sneered at us, the Commoners were intrigued. The idea of a Nation of Commoners was so alien to them, I could practically see the intrigue radiate from their eyes.

"Ok, I'll go first." Alex said as he, Haytham and Patrice got ready.

"Are you prepared to lose to the Queens Army?" Haytham mocked.

"Not much you can do you brit." Patrice mocked back.

"At least we don't mooch off of another country." Haytham said, ouch. By now everyone was placing bets and predictably, everyone went with the guy that was in their Military. I voted for Haytham though, just to piss the Rangers off. Al though we didn't have money so we made bets with the only things we had, the good snacks in our MREs. Occasionally you'll get something good from an MRE and no body wanted to lose that.

Back straight, hands shoulder with apart and all the way down until your chest just touches the grass. They took their shirts off and a lot of the girls in the crowd either sighed or blushed. Can't blame them, most of these guys have a decent looking body, not that I could tell what a girl found attractive in a guys body. When I was 15 I though girls liked big muscles, like Sylvester Stallone big but I was wrong, as with most things about women. Forget Halkeginia, Women are the real mysteries of the Universe.

And they're off, each man beginning with the push ups and each man shouting out each number. After about 80 push ups they started getting tired but they were going strong. Alex was the first to drop out, he was a rather scrawny guy with Japanese decent. His Grandfather was apart of the battle of Iwo gima, and died in defense of his country. At least that's what Rob told me, him and Alex were very tight and very good buds. They both went through Ranger training together.

After Alex was Haytham, to add insult to injury, sort of, Patrice kept going till he was a 150. He stopped and turned to the crowd, yelling and flexing his muscles like a body builder. The crowd began to cheer and the women were beginning to swoon over him. I have to admit, 150 full push ups in 1 go, not bad.

"Enough hulk, time for the next thing." I laughed as I pushed him lightly back into the rest of the Canadians. Next up was Sit ups, Rob took this one. This was simple, hands crossed over your chest and touching your shoulders, but on the ground and legs bent 90 degrees. Your shoulder blades must be touching the ground and you come up until your elbows touch your thighs. In SEAL Training your elbows go past your knees but this is a bit different.

Rob took his shirt off and started flexing his six pack at the crowd. Rob was always very cut, even in high school. He wasn't very bulky but you could see just about every muscle in his body. He got down on the ground and prepared for the sit ups. Saddler and Howard went in and did the same. After a moment for everyone to place their bets they counted down. When they hit 1 they were off, they all had a buddy holding their feet down to make it a bit easier.

Saddler dropped out after 100, Howard followed him and Rob finished at just over 200. When the ass hole won he put his hands in the air and began flexing as well. After smacking some humility into him it was mine, Dacks and Bobs turn. We were going to do sprints now. 300 Ms, 150 to the goal and back. Winner takes home the gold, if we had gold.

I stripped off my shirt but didn't flex or anything, I always was very humble. My muscles weren't much to look at, there was little definition and I barely had a 6 pack. Most of the time you couldn't even see it. I was rather bulky but not too much, I never did like the idea of getting big muscles, too much weight and slows you down. I took up my position and they counted down from 3. After hitting 1 we were off.

I wasn't a very good sprinter, I could run long distances but I was a very slow sprinter. In the end I came in last with Dack taking home the gold, Bob was second. After the little game we all said good job and all that school yard crap and turned in for the day. I got my shirt back on and decided to go up to see how Henrietta was doing before it got dark. The castle was big so it took me a good 10 minutes to get to her room.

I slowly peaked inside because the door was slightly open and I saw her brushing her now wet purple hair. I cleared my throat to get her attention and she looked at me with a bit of sorrow in her eyes. She stood up, dressed in a white night gown that went down to her ankles and barely covered her shoulders. When she reached me she looked down and could not speak very well.

"Captain, I apologize for what I did." She began but I held up my hand to stop her. The look I gave her said that she didn't need to apologize.

"I know what you went through Henrietta, I had a similar experience when I was a little older than you." I said, recalling that dusty night.

"No, what I did was inexcusable and I need to make amends." She tried to reason. We went over and sat on her bed, about a foot or 2 away from each other.

"Trust me, I know what you had to deal with, it's not something easy to do and you don't need to apologize." I said.

"What happened." She asked innocently. For a moment my face changed to a hurt expression. "You don't need to say..." She began but I shook my head.

"I think it's time I told someone." I said. "My father was a Mujahideen Freedom Fighter during what was called the Afghan war. Back then they were our allies. After the war he moved to the US and met my mother, a Marine Nurse." Even though Henrietta didn't know what I was referring to she understood the basic concept. "On my moms side my Grandfather was a UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams) from World War 2. That's one of the reasons I wanted to be a SEAL, before the SEALs were made they were known as the UDTs. Every SEAL is known as the son of the UDT." Henrietta nodded.

"After 9/11, a terrible event in our Nations history my father went back to join the Freedom Fighters, now known as Al Qaeda. I was very young then. He abandoned us for that, I wish I had asked him. On my first mission as a SEAL we were sent to assassinate a high ranking Al Qaeda leader. The mission failed and I was captured alive. My father turned out to be the target." Henrietta gasped. "He knew it was me, he knew I was his son but it didn't bother him. He tortured me, tried to get information out of me in unimaginable ways." I looked at my hands, without my gloves to hide them the round scars on my hands were revealed. I got them when he took a drill and went right through them. "I was beaten, cut, electrocuted and suffocated for 3 days. US Marines busted through the compound, and I chased my father as he fled. I cornered him in a small hut and stabbed him with an old Arab Sabre, the same Sabre used by his Grandfather during the war with the Ottoman Empire of World War 1. I still have it, hanging on the wall at my house." Henrietta put her delicate hand on my shoulder, my voice low and somber but held no trace of sobs and my eyes barren of tears.

"That is horrible." Henrietta said with sympathy.

"Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing, sometimes I wonder why he did it. I always looked up to him and loved the stories my mom would tell of him. I always imagined him as the hero in the red shemagh, Guess I was wrong." I looked at Henrietta in the eyes. "I know what it is like to be responsible for the death of a loved one, even in the rage I had I still loved my father. Apart of me was destroyed when I killed him. I know you loved Wales, but he was not himself. He is dead and you can't let the guilt and pain consume you. I know, I got drunk, tried drugs and became reckless. I was nearly kicked out because my kin was with the enemy and I was emotionally compromised. I'm not saying you should bury the pain down, if you need to cry then cry. But don't give into the pain and don't retreat into a small shell. You are the Queen and your people are at war. Louise, Saito, Agnes, everyone. They depend on you. You can't save Wales, but you can save the others that you still love." A small tear escaped Henrietta's eye.

"Please leave me, I wish to be alone." Henrietta stood up and walked to her bathing chamber. I understood her need for some time to think over what I said and left her room, closing the door as I did. It was going to be hard for her but she's tough, she'll pull through. She will become a great queen one day, I have no doubt about that. I turned away and went back to the camp and decided to get some shut eye.

The next morning we were all woken up and got straight to our PTs. It's actually kind of nice, given the hard PT I got before this mission, this was like a minor jog or warm up. About half way through it Walker walked up to me.

"Let's go Captain, we have a paper to sign." He said. I nodded and got dressed. My Suit was ruined from the night of the kidnapping so I opted for a good old fashioned Woodland BDU. I decided to do a bit more jogging up to the throne room to get the morning blood flowing. As I entered I saw the Queen sitting in the same place as last time with the Nobles and NATO officials in their respective places. When I arrived they all got right to it. Henrietta took the hand written paper that NATO made and began reading it out loud. It was large, like the Declaration of Independence and only covered 1 page. A lot of treaties are like this. To give you an idea of what it says I'll shorten it.

The first paragraph was rights to some land for the US to make an Embassy on castle grounds, it would house future politicians and possibly tourists, in case of any identity or legal issues. Tourists weren't in the near future though, most likely not for a decade at the least. Not only is there an Embassy but just outside of the castle and town NATO has the rights to make a temporary base to house soldiers and allow for training and resting.

The second paragraph had to do with the Economy, in exchange for gold and other resources the US would supply Tristain with man made materials such as rubber, plastic and metals like titanium. As long as the deal is fair and equal there would be no conflict between the Nations. If however Tristain is unable to give the required items for trade they will not receive the shipments. This will begin in a month for when NATO is a more permanent force.

As for social relations in the third paragraph, each Nation is responsible for the reprimanding of their respective criminals if there is any kind of conflict between them. As for a special thing, NATO also gets the rights to create an Army of their own version out of any Halkeginian, Commoner or Noble who wishes to join. After Albion is defeated that land goes right to NATO hands in order to establish a strong and permanent base. Any attacks on these newly formed armies will be seen as acts of crimes against NATO.

Modern countries today don't like the idea of colonies, look at what happened to the vast Empire Britain created and their biggest blunder, the American Revolution. It worked out in the end but was a pain in the ass at the time. To prevent the possibility of a future revolution or civil war, NATO will help the defeated Albion people form their own government in the shape of the North Atlantic Countries of Earth. To prevent them from getting too strong they will be given permission to learn how to forge early repeating fire-arms, such as level, bolt or pump action. By the way, I'm being more in depth in the description with you guys since it was written in a way where these primitive people can understand, in the paper it's simply listed as "Better Weapons". Back to the topic, after this they will be allowed to have their own research developments and create better weapons. It's seen that this gap between technologies would give Commoners a fighting chance against Nobles but not be strong enough to challenge Earth.

Not to surprisingly, many Nobles were upset about the last part but after another good talking down to by Henrietta, they reluctantly agreed. All that was left was the signatures from the main parties. The 3 NATO officials and the Nobles and Queen all signed the paper, officially sealing the treaty of Tristain and creating an official reason for NATO to go to war with Albion. After all, one of the main things is that NATO would aid Tristain if ever in a war. In this case, it can't work in reverse because, well, not much they can do for the wars we're in. I would almost pay to see Nobles fight the Taliban of Somali pirates.

On a side note, Henrietta also requested a small camp of soldiers to be stationed inside the Magic Academy to protect it from any kind of invasion or attack. When asked why protect a school Henrietta stated that she will not reveal the reasons as of yet, but there will be consequences to any soldiers that do not follow Osmond's rules. It was fair enough, NATO didn't like the idea of secrets but accepted because they wanted a peace treaty.

"I, Queen Henrietta of Tristain do proclaim Tristain and the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization official allies." She said, signing her name in French. The document itself was French to avoid confusion. With the official stuff out of the way, Walker began to radio in Command to begin preparations for supplies, troops and other things to make a firm presence in Halkeginia.

After the meeting I went out of the room and walked outside, where I saw Saito and Louise driving in a carriage. Saito stopped it and waved to me, in the back I could also see the Maid, Siesta sitting there.

"Hey, how was your day?" I asked casually.

"Not fun, I had a lot of problems, like running from Louise's dad when we were in a boat." Saito said.

"Yea, I suppose when you bang someones daughter that tends to happen." I said and Saito blushed as red as a tomato before stammering like crazy.

"Nononono, it's not like that, you see, we hid from her family which was forcing Louise home." He failed to say properly.

"So a bit of alone time in a small boat really helped, didn't it." I laughed at Saito's expense.

"That's not at all what I mean!" Saito shouted.

"Also into role play ey? I see that maid back there." I laughed some more.

"It's not... Never mind, I'm leaving." Saito continued his way on the carriage while I just stood there for a second, trying to recover from all that laughing. I sat down under a tree and just took in the fresh air. I could get a hint of flowers and daisy's and all that stuff. I always loved to just enjoy nature, I am normally away from it for so long, this European like environment with all the majesty and beauty that reminded me of home. Hey, don't call me gay, you try spending months in either dry and sandy deserts or muddy and rain filled forests for months at a time. Seriously, I hate the places I go. Yea, thanks uncle same "See the world" my ass. I basically get to hang in the arm pit of the world and let me tell you there is a severe lack of deodorant, metaphorically.

I was so at peace and let my guard down that I didn't notice the purple haired Queen come and sit herself beside me. I hid my surprise and just kept my eyes closed, enjoying the breeze that brushed against the exposed skin on my neck.

"It's beautiful, isn't it." Henrietta said beside me.

"I personally prefer the rich and luscious forests of America, but I can appreciate beauty when I see it." I said. Henrietta put her hands in her lap and enjoyed the peace with me.

"When I was a little girl, I would always play outside and enjoy the beauty that our world has been given. In these harsh times I always love to see the land that is untouched by fear or destruction, it always makes me feel safe." Henrietta said.

"I grew up in a crappy area, lived in a poor house, bad street and the air always smelled like smoke and pollution. I lived in a city and they always smell like crap. Not to mention the kinds of hellish places my job takes me. It's always nice to kick my feet back and enjoy the world." I said, while caressing the soft and slippery grass under my hands, almost forgetting of the weeks I spent in the sand before this mission.

"May I ask, why do you fight? I hate violence and I can't stand the thought of a war with Albion. I never chose to be Queen, if I could I would rather run away and live a normal life. I almost did even, but why do you choose this life?" Henrietta looked into my eyes which turned and focused into hers.

"I do it because it is what I have chosen, no other reason. I chose it because I believe it to be right. I chose it because I want to be an unsung hero, a man who acknowledges the deeds he has done, but kept secret from others. I became a soldier because I wanted to do what I believe is right, and when the day comes that I die, I will die as an unknown soldier in an unmarked grave. Only to be remembered by those I care for until they pass from this world and my memory forever fades from existence." I smiled at myself.

"You don't want to be remembered?" Henrietta asked.

"No, I don't want to be remembered. My reason is because I don't want recognition. As long as I know I did the right thing, that is good enough for me. I don't want future kids in space writing book reports about me, or some old historian lecturing about me. I want to be the loudest voice heard, but never seen or known, to make an impact but to never be found. It's complicated, but it's what I want." I said. "I have no care for power or recognition, no care for riches or fame. All I want is to do what God put me here to do and move on, that's it."

"I have never heard such words before." Henrietta commented.

"What is it you want?" I asked.

"I want my people to be safe, I want them to live long and happy lives in peace, it is a duty that I will forever follow, as given to me from generations since Brimir. We all have a duty from God to uphold the natural order of the world." Henrietta said.

"And yet you ally yourself with "Commoners" even though it is against the natural order?" I asked.

"Saito told me your people were from another world." That SOB, I thought. "If magic does not exist there than you have a different order then us." Strange, to meet one such as open minded as her in this dark ages like place.

"You're a good person Henrietta." I said. She gave me a warm smile which shot a small shiver through my spine.

"You as well Sir Riptide, I have never met a Commoner as brave as you, a man who risked his life to save a people he has no affiliation to." She said in a soft and beautiful voice.

We just stared at each others eyes for a moment, I could feel myself unconsciously moving towards her and her doing the same. My eyes slowly closed and all of a sudden the world went black, my only focus being the woman in front of me now. After what felt like an eternity...

I opened my eyes and pulled away when our faces where inches apart.

"I... I have to g-go. I'll see you around." I stood up and walked away, not bothering to look at Henrietta, who had a disappointed face but also sad in a way. What the fuck is wrong with me? OK, it's just stress is all... I haven't been with a woman in months, my male hormones are just getting the best of me. I mean for the love of God, the is a Queen, a Queen that is in a fragile balance with my own Nation. I can't get emotionally attached to people I work with, it always causes problems. Hell, the fiasco with Wales a few days ago is proof how getting emotionally attached effects a persons judgment.

It's only sexual, that's it. That's why I wanted to kiss her, just normal every day hormones. There is no way I am actually starting to fall for her. She's nice and I do like her but it is strictly business, all that was, was a moment of weakness in my own damn male mind. You know what, fuck this, I'm jumping into a cold lake, that will get rid of any desire I have for the Queen. I can't get emotionally compromised, especially now.

**End Chapter 13 **

OK, I need to take a break on the romance stuff. Next chapter will have a bit of action in it. Looks like NATO will be starting the war a bit early.


	14. Chapter 14: Operation Locksley

**Chapter 14: Operation Locksley **

After a month of preparation, NATO managed to get more troops into Halkeginia. So far we have Marines and other NATO forces coming into the area. Our camp, which was as big as a small village was not build just outside of the castle. As for vehicles, NATO managed to get in a single F-22 Raptor that has been modified with stealth and radar equipment. The only thing it actually has in terms of weapons is the Vulcan barrel mini-gun on its nose. It was one mean looking beast but it was mainly used for Recon and only fights to aid in team exfil. They also brought in 2 modified Blackbirds which will be used to transport entire teams of Spec-Ops, since the regular cargo planes can't go fast has no weapons and the cargo space is very cramped, it can only hold 20 men comfortably, or 5 men and a Combat Rubber Raiding Craft (CRRC), which can hold 10 men comfortably, not counting the 2 Operators controlling it.. Their are other Black Birds but they only transport

As for other Special Operations units, we had the Army Special Forces (AKA the Green Berets) and some members of MARSOC (Marines Special Operations Command). The Green Berets were tasked with the job of training a Halkeginian army. Not many people know this, but the Berets are not Special Ops like the SEALs or Marines Recon. In Vietnam their job was to recruit civilians behind enemy lines and train them to fight. Their job is what is coined as "Force Multipliers". After some time, a small squad of Green Berets becomes an Army of 100 strong, possibly 1000. It wasn't until recent years that they actually began fighting as a normal thing. By recent I mean the late 70s, early 80s.

MARSOC is tasked with mainly Recon, the pride of the Marines. In the coming days of the war, they will be sent out on many recon missions to map out the enemy area and get a good idea on enemy strength. So far, NATO had 500 troops strong, including British Royal Marines and Canadian Army Infantry. Their main priority is to locate the 2 Delta boys and Nuke that is still missing behind the Albion border.

The other Spec-Ops group is the United Kingdom Special Boat Services (SBS). Most people compare the SAS with the SEALs but it is an unfair comparison. SEALs are frogmen, they operate mainly in water, SAS rarely go into water. The SBS is the British SEALs, they go into the water as much as we do. If anything, the SAS are more like the US Air-Force Special Tactics Squadron. It's very interesting for people to say "SAS are better than the SEALs" When in reality, they have very different Operations methods. SAS do not get wet, SEALs do. Almost every SEAL mission has to do with water. Even though we are Sea Air and Land compatible, we learn the water first, we think about water first. As for the SBS, they sent in S-Squadron. S-squadron specializes mainly in mini-subs and boats.

Aside from the 9 SEAL teams there are 2 SEAL boat teams, that operate all the time on boats and mainly deliver SEALs to an area via water. They're kind of like SWCC (Special Warfare Combat-craft Crewman) but they are SEALs, not SWCC, their is a big difference. The SBS have something similar, the S-Squadron are mainly used as boat transportation and that is what they will be doing for the other Spec-Ops units.

Currently I was in one of the tents inside base camp. It was in the center and off limits to anyone from Halkeginia. Due to the nature of the whole "Honor" thing, NATO decided to keep its Spec-Ops missions to itself. Aside from me and the Berets, the SAS, SBS, MARSOC and all other Spec-Ops units are officially unknown and blend in with the main force. If asked by anyone outside of NATO, they are regular soldiers. On the side of the base there was also a runway with the 2 blackbirds and F-22. It's amazing to hear the Nobles comment about "How did these Commoners tame these amazing dragons". Of course we didn't let them get a closer look and let them have their own assumptions.

I was in a room where their would be a Joint Op with the 2 SAS men (Sword and Shield) and DEVGRU, all of who'm stayed in this world. MARSOC was being sent on the Recon missions and until the POW's are found or the Nuke, we would be sent on sabotage, Assassination and kidnap missions. After all, you have to weaken the enemy before fighting them out right. Even with the massive gap in technology, it was scene that Mage's magic can still be very problematic for ground forces. NATO wanted to be a team player for now so their conventional tactics would go back to European Revolution tactics. Unlike in those days though, they will not stand straight up and in the open. Laying flat on the ground, taking cover behind trees and rocks etc, will all be acceptable. If what Louise did could be replicated by the enemy, it could spell disaster for NATO. So nothing is left to chance, we resort to "Cheating" and "Unfair" tactics.

Just recently, Henrietta has officially declared war on Albion, the fight is on and all that is left is carrying out the plans left out for us. In the room, I sat in the front row with the other 6 men at my back. Walker and Commodore (Above Captain yet Below Rear Admiral in the British Royal Navy) Cutter, a Scottish man. Walker is still not technically a Rear Admiral, he is the lower half of a Rear Admiral so him and Cutter share the same rank. They are both in charge of their respective forces. The Canadian equivalent is not in this room, he is not apart of the Spec-Ops part because Canada did not want to send Spec-Ops units, not yet anyway.

"Well gentlemen." Cutter began. "We have a new Op today, I will let Rear Admiral Walker explain."

"Thank you Cutter." Walker stepped forward and showed us a map of Albion, given by the projector. "We have talked with the Queen and she has decided to send a massive attack on Albion's border and engage in a massive battle with Albion forces. Since we do not have anything to transport men to that altitude we will be hitching a ride on the Queens fleet and will be the first boots on the ground. To make sure Tristain and Germania succeed, we will be doing a bit of sabotage. Albion forces are amassing a massive ship based army on the south of the island." Walker pointed to the bottom of Albion on the map. "You will be dropped behind enemy lines and sabotage those war ships by any means necessary. That is your main objective, your secondary objective is to take out a man named Joseph Franklin, the commander and chief of the ships Tristain will be fighting, with him out Albion will be demoralized and unorganized, they can not fight effectively."

"What kind of numbers are we looking at?" Shield asked.

"The port has roughly 600 Albion warships and over 300,000 men, despite what guys say we are severely out matched here. We don't even have enough bullets to take them out. Our numbers are severely limited right now, we depend on Tristain right now, after all, we would be over run with these odds. 300,000 to 500 is not good odds, even if they all had knives we would still be over run." Walker replied. "This will be a night op, you'll drop from parachute at 10,000 feet since there are no Radar or Anti-Air weapons to worry about. After the objective is complete you will be extracted via sky hook." Sky hook is an old Cold War design that sends a helium balloon thousands of feet high, an arm on the plane will attach itself too it and the operator will be lifted up and reeled into the back of the plane. It may seem deadly, accelerating at 500 MPH in an instant but it works differently. Due to the flexibility and length of the cord, when it is attached the momentum will take time to transfer from the top to the bottom. When it is hitched you will slowly go straight up and then level with the plane. The length of the cable makes the transfer of energy slow enough so that you can slowly accelerate to the same speed of the plane.

"Sir, isn't Sky Hook outdated?" Flint asked.

"Yes, it has been outdated since Helicopters improved, but seeing as how we don't have helicopters there is no way extracting large forces without a runway for a plane to land." Cutter said.

"Getting back on topic." Walker said. "You will complete the mission objectives and call in the bird when ready. The bird only has 2 hours of fuel before it has to return home, if you do not complete the mission before then then you will be stuck behind enemy lines until we can reach you. Unfortunately due to the elevation of Albion you will not be able to radio Base command, you will only have access to Blackbird." Walker said. Radios work by converting electrical signals to radio waves where it is received and again tuned into electrical signals. Radio waves are limited though, even though they travel in every direction they can't pass through large and dense objects. Ever had you phone cut off in a tunnel? Same concept, except that the land below our feet will block the signal and without satellites to relay the signal we will be deaf from command.

"Trident, you will be the commander of this mission, Riptide will be your second in command." We nodded as Cutter explained the situation. We were an interesting team, Trident was the leader, Flint was the radio man and operated the surveillance equipment, Anchor was the medic and Eagle was the heavy weapons guy. Also counting me, Sword and Shield as snipers, we were a good team. "After your landing you will complete the mission as you see fit, we have very limited intelligence. Get your drop gear and prepare for the mission." We all stood up and saluted.

We were issued just about anything we wanted in the armory. I myself took an M16A4 with a medium range scope. The effective range of an M4 is 400 M, an M16 is 600 M, this is because the longer barrel increases the range. With this scope I can reach out to 800 Ms, 1,000 if I had a little while to calculate the variables. It does not have a full-Auto mode but it is a very useful weapon for medium distances. I also had an Iron Site on the side of the gun so I can use that for close range. All I have to do is angle the gun and shoot sideways, it's a lot easier than it sounds. I also got a suppressed SIG, plated recon body armor and multi-camo BDU pants and Combat shirt. I also requested my tan Shemagh. It was used by my Great Grandfather who fought against the Ottoman Empire in WW1. He was one of the Arabs under command of Laurence of Arabia. Finally a fast base jump style helmet with knight vision goggle attached on the front.

Trident wore a similar get up but he had an M4A1 with a tac-light, Grip and ACOG (Advance Combat Optical Gunsight) a Glock 17 that fires 9MM rounds.

Next we had Flint, again he wore the same gear as us but he opted for a M4A1 that had a full auto selector. It was the same as Tridents but it had an M203 Grenade launcher on the under barrel and a Holotech Red Dot Sight. Lastly he had a SIG just like me.

Anchor had an AA-12 Full Auto Shotgun and carried an Mp-7 on stand by in case he needed to be more subtle.

Eagle had 2 M72A7 LAWs on his back as well as a M240 SAW. The M240 looks and operates exactly like the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) except it fires 7.62's instead of 5.56s. This is good if an enemy is hiding behind a wall, the 100 round drum magazine can take down a small brick wall in under 30 shots.

Shield was equipped with a long barrel G36C and a Colt .45 American made Single Action Revolver. He always preferred Revolvers over Semi's, and in his opinion the American old west was one of the greatest times in history. After all, the US is responsible for multiple firing weapons, the first repeating fire-arm was the Colt Cap and Ball Revolver. The first true repeating machine gun was the Gatling gun, made in the US. The double barrel, pump action and semi-auto shotgun all designed by Americans. Shield also had equipment to measure wind, distance and other things to find the correct trajectory of a bullet.

Lastly, Sword was armed with a Bolt action L96A1 Sniper Rifle and an Mp-5 for close engagements. Lastly he had a Beretta M92F that fired 15 9MM rounds.

We were all equipped with Spec-Ops switch blades, K-bar fixed knives and explosives such as claymores and C4. Without a doubt we were all ready for some serious action.

Just as the sun was going down we all headed to the Blackbird, dressed in G-suits, parachutes and oxygen masks with out gear in a bag that was connected below our waists. The Camp had been coming nicely, there were tents, men training and the small runway to allow the planes to land. The runway was still not fully done, all there was was a strip of black cement. No markings or anything except chemical lights to light the runway so the pilots can see. In the corner of my eye I saw Rob run up to me.

"Heading out Eugene?" He asked.

"What the hell does it look like dumb ass." I joked.

"Honestly, looks like the Seaman is getting ready to jump out the plane." I swear, if I had a nickle for every time someone joked about me being a seaman.

"Well, let's see you Rangers "Lead the way" when I am the first one on Albion shores." I lightly punched his shoulder.

"And while your doing your little sneaky stuff, us real men will be fighting the enemy right in their face." He boasted proudly.

"I will admit that the Marines are bad asses but you Army guys are weak, your the Military version of the kids area." I said.

"We're only family friendly, that's all. Besides, the Marines are the men's branch of the Navy." Rob laughed as I flipped him off.

"Riptide, let's go, now." Trident said in a stern voice.

"Well, I got to go. After all, if we don't weaken the enemy you Rangers won't stand a chance." We clapped our hands together and did a quick man hug.

"Just save some guys for us, we don't want it too easy." After that I boarded the plane and sat in the small cargo bay, my men were right next to me, preparing for the drop. This would be very easy, 10,000 feet is nothing, civilians drop that low. Although at night it will be a challenge, not to mention we're getting dropped off 3 miles from target and then glide till we're 1 mile away. We have to pull the shute seconds after jumping, so we can glide most of the way. Dropping straight onto a target risks the chance of getting spotted or blown by a rouge wind.

For the next few hours we were all bullshitting. You know, things like which celebrity would we sleep with, arguing over weapons and other things. Being around these men is like being with a family, it's quite honestly the best feeling. There was even a little fan boy in me who pretended I was officially in DEVGRU. Working with DEVGRU and the SAS is one of the best feelings in the world.

"Prepare for drop, depressurization complete, opening rear." The Pilot said. The back of the plane opened and we were greeted with darkness and the deafening sound of wind. We all put on our oxygen masks, NODs and stood up, preparing for the green light. After the yellow light turned green, we all jumped out one after the other.

Let me tell you, this is much better, I can see everything with these NODs on. Such a difference from a month or 2 ago. We all pulled our shute's seconds after jumping and slowly glided to the ground.

After a half hour of gliding me hit the ground. Very quietly we ditched the G-suit and oxygen and silently put on our gear. The whole process was as quiet as it gets. All I could hear was the light movement of my own clothes and gear, I couldn't hear the others. We quickly applied our face paint, all traditional face paint, and regrouped.

Flint checked the map we had, after some work he determined that we were half a mile from the target. A look around and he pointed to the distance we needed to go. We all tapped each others shoulders as a sign to go. Since you can't talk, hand signs and tapping shoulders is the only way to ensure secrecy.

The area around us was nothing but open hills, highlighted in the green hue thanks to the NODs. Slowly, in a slight crouch position we walked to the target in a column formation with a 10 Meter spread so a rocket, or in this case spell, doesn't hit all of us at once. After a while we got a good vantage point on a hill over looking the port. The port was massive to say the least, guards, drunken soldiers and celebrations going on to honor the men who would go out fighting in the morning. We had 5 hours left before dawn and we used that time carefully.

Sword and Shield set up a sniping position from here, Swords L96 was suppressed but at this distance it would still be heard. The distance was around 300 Ms from the first target and 1,000 Ms from the closest ship. After 10 minutes they marked the distances and trajectories of multiple areas to properly aim just about anywhere.

Trident motioned for us to move out. The torches and candles could not Illuminati far enough for us to be seen, it was so dark that we could run and still be hidden. The sky was also cloudy so we didn't have to worry about silhouetting ourselves.

We reached the first building which was a tavern. We could hear the parties going on inside, music, dancing and a few young Nobles getting completely hammered. We slowly moved to the edge of the building and peaked out. Despite the Tavern, most men were asleep, preparing for the battle. The streets were quite and not a soul, aside from the occasional guard, was around. We quickly moved across the small dirt street and into an alley.

"Alpha this is Zulu." Our ear pieces came to life. Alpha was SEALs and Zulu was the SAS snipers. "Possible ID on Tangos (The general) position. Next to the largest man of war is a mansion, there is a high possibility that he is there, over." Sword said.

"Understood." Trident said. We stopped in the alley and took a second to consider our situation. Trident pointed at himself, Flint and Eagle and closed his fist before opening it again. He pointed to me and Anchor and and made the gesture of a gun. Basically, he said we'd split up and take the different jobs. I nodded, knowing he sent Anchor and me to take out the Tango.

We got to a fork in the ally and went our different ways. After ducking from cover to cover we reached the end of the ally where the mansion was. It was a big 3 story house that looked like Colonial age stuff. Finding him won't be easy. We stayed their before I got a glimpse of the target through a window. He fit the description and wore a very nice uniform that was covered in medals.

"Alpha 1 this is Alpha 2, target verified. We will attack when you detonate the charges, over." It's best to attack when everyone is in panic then now when the guards are aware. Trident replied and said understood, then we played the waiting game. "Alpha to Zulu, when we attack you provide covering fire upon our escape." Which Zulu replied with a yes sir.

After 3 hours, with only 2 hours left before dawn, a massive explosion happened in the distance. All at once guards began running to where it was, weakening the mansions defenses. It readied my suppressed M16, turned it on the side to use the iron sight and began firing when there were only a few guards left. Anchor used his suppressed MP-7 as well and shot at anyone in view. After the courtyard was cleared in seconds we headed to the door. Another explosion rocked the area and followed by another. They were being detonated 1 by 1.

I got out my suppressed SIG, since an M16 is too big for house fighting and kicked in the door. Anchor used his AA-12 and went in first, taking semi bursts and killing any target in his way. I went in after him, pointing my SIG at the corner at Anchors back and doing a 90 degree sweep, killing anyone in the room that was armed.

"Get Down Now!" I yelled at the maids and Butler's and they all got face first on the ground so I could reduce the chance of civilian casualties. We went upstairs with Anchor leading the way and shot anyone with a gun. We moved down the hallway on the 3RD floor with doors on either side of us. A door to my left opened up and I turned the SIG, my heart jumping and preparing to shoot. Out running came a young girl, looked to be 13 in a maid outfit. Most people would have just shot out of reaction but I was trained to avoid my first instinct to shoot. Contrary to popular belief, SEALs think first, then shoot.

I grabbed the girl by the clothes on her shoulder and yanked her to the floor so she was laying down and moved on. She just laid there, paralyzed with fear to move. After that I continued down the hallway right behind Anchor.

We reached the main door, which was where Target Tango was. We got on either side of the door and breached. Everything happened in slow motion, I saw the target and he was surrounded by high ranking men, who were no doubt going over the battle plan before hearing the explosion. In seconds we cleared the room and killed everyone in sight, I also took a digital picture of the dead General We effectively got rid of much of the chain of command in this port, they don't stand a chance. I shot the window till it broke apart and connected a fast rope, Anchor doing the same. After that we fast roped out of the mansion. The operation took a longer than expected and the blackbird was now gone. We had to survive until the Calvary got here.

We began running back to the snipers and came across some randomly running men who got in our way. We killed some of them, but others were taken out by our friends in the hills, got to love snipers. I would know, I am one. On the way we regrouped with DEVGRU.

"Target down." I said.

"Understood, 200 Warships destroyed, and the rest are burning from fires." Trident said over the noise. Time to go, we ran to the edge of the port and up the hill just as dawn was breaking. After we made it to the top of the hill Sword and Shield gathered their gear and came with us. All we could do now was set up a defensive position and wait until the Army invaded. Hopefully they will get here soon.

**End Chapter 14 **


	15. Chapter 15: The Blackhawk's Not Down

**TheCrazyAnimeFan:** To answer your question in the comments, that I can't reply, no I have never been in the service however I have done extensive research in it and weapons. I do plan to one day join Naval Special Warfare in a few months. So far I am qualified but it is a very long process just to get into training. Oh well, more time for me to train.

I would also like to thank my reviewers for their criticism. I will put more effort into the fighting. Also I'm making a slight change, for this chapter it will be in Robs POV, to get a taste of conventional warfare. The story is still about Riptide and this won't happen often, it's just a way to add some flavor.

**Chapter 15: The Blackhawk's not down **

The name's Robert Sledge, member of the 75TH Ranger Regiment and the proud son of a US Marine and loving stay at home mother. I have to admit, my dad didn't like the idea of me going into the Army but whatever, the old man can stuff it. My hobbies are running, swimming and competitive fighting. I joined the Rangers, partly to piss my dad off as a joke, but also to do what the Marines do, and better than what the Marines do. No other Conventional Military is as tough as us, Rangers lead the way baby!

Let me tell you, the shock of going to another world was crazy but exiting. I always loved mind fucks, which is why I am an a huge fan of Anime and Doctor Who. Always have been a bit of a nerd but I always loved the Military. Getting here was easy for a Ranger, nothing like doing a bit of parachuting.

As for right now, we were on our way to Albion. Since we don't have any way to actually do a Naval sky battle our ship was a few rows back. Let me tell you, the enemy was pathetic. Only about 100 ships attacked which was wiped out by the 500 Germanian and Tristain ships. As of now I was on a rather small transport ship that was lightly armed. The 500 NATO forces were put into 4 ships. Each one had a different unit, the Canadian Infantry, US Marines, Royal Marines and the US Army Rangers. Our job was to show Halkeginia our power on the battlefield.

The battle plan is simple, Marines, Royal Marines and Army infantry will do a direct attack on the enemy port, while us Rangers would fast rope on the left flank and outflank the enemy. If all goes well it should take a few hours tops. Fast roping will be a bit different this time, since we are fast roping off the edge of a man of war instead of a helicopter.

So far we had 2 platoons, around 70 Rangers. I lead Platoon Alpha and the other one was Platoon Bravo. Since the Rangers are a hard striking light infantry we will go in lightly equipped for maximum maneuverability. While the Rangers will fight alone, the main assault force will also have Nobles striking with the Marines, however the Marines will be the first boots in. You know how those SOBs are, "First ones in, last ones out". Got to love the Marines.

After rechecking my M249 Squad Automatic Weapon with 200 round bullet belts and a basket to hold it, I ordered the rest of my men to get prepared. We were an hour from the battle and the anticipation was everywhere.

"Did you hear?" I overheard one of the Commoner ship hands say to another one in a low voice. "The port was attacked last night." He said.

"Who did it? Not us." His buddy said.

"From what I heard from the prisoners we captured in the air battle, they were attacked by Demons with glowing green eye's and magic lighting staves." I laughed at that. "Almost all the ships were wiped out, which is why they couldn't put up a resistance. Priests are going to perform ceremonies to make sure the Demons can not touch us." I was having trouble holding in my laughter. Good old Eugene, so that's what he was up to. Well, the SEALs are called a killing squad for a reason.

"Alex, is everyone ready?" I asked him.

"Yes sir, awaiting the go ahead." I nodded at him. I stood up on a platform to address my men, making sure the Nobles on the ship also heard of this.

"Men, listen up." I said in a loud and charismatic voice. "We've been through some tough shit in the past, especially in the mountains of northern Afghanistan. I'm sure we feel pretty invincible, after all, we're Army Rangers." The men yelled out Hooah. "But make no mistake, the enemy we are against is unlike anything we have ever seen, they are a powerful Military force that can't be taken lightly. Their weapons, these wands and spells can have the same destructive force as a grenade, and they have an endless supply of magic. When we land we will be up against an estimation of 1,000 troops, we will rely on our superiority in marksmanship and tactics. I want this job done cleanly gentlemen, no one's going home in a body bag." I said with confidence.

"Hooah Sergeant!" They cheered.

"One last thing." I said. "We are under the watchful eye's of these so called "Nobles", who looks down on us because we're different. We will be considered weak and inferior by these clowns. Today is our day to show them just who we are!" My voice was getting louder after each sentence. "Today we will march into battle, our hearts and minds freed from the fear of death!" I said louder. "We will face the enemy on his home turf and show them what it means to cross the US ARMY RANGERS!" I held my fist into the air as the men around me cheered at my speech.

"Great speech sir." Alex saluted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the Rangers who had a depressed look on his face. I decided to see what was wrong, I need every man to be at his best, physically and mentally.

"What's your name?" I asked him. He looked young probably not even 20. He looked at me with surprise and saluted.

"Private First Class Donald Anderson sir." I said.

"At ease, I'm not big on the saluting every 5 minutes thing." He relaxed a bit. "You know, I learned my first battle that a man who has anything on his mind during the battle usually complicates the mission. So why do you look stressed?" I asked. "You're new, aren't you?" I realized.

"Yes sir, I this is my first deployment." He said shakily.

"I see, first battle no doubt." Donald nodded. "You know, I was like you my first time, it's scary but you don't need to be afraid of anything. I won't lie, it's going to be a real bad experience for many, but don't ever go into the battle with the fear of death weighed upon your heart. Don't be like those who beg for a little more time, when your death does come, march to it with courage and valor in your heart." I told my man truthfully.

"It's not that sir." He said. "I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of not doing my job, of making my family and the other Rangers disappointed." He said in a low voice. I put my hand on his shoulder and shook it slightly.

"You won't let me down kid, that much I know for certain." I said. "Tell you what, when we go to a bar I'll buy you a couple of rounds to celebrate your achievement here." The kid smiled and looked much easier at me. I knew he would be good. Being in charge of this many men really teaches you a thing or two. To be a good and successful leader, you must have charisma and the respect of your men. If not, they'll be more likely to kill you than your enemy.

"Sir, we are now going over land, the main force is about to hit land and invade." Alex said.

"Sergeant!" The Noble Captain yelled down to me from his position behind the wheel, or whatever the nautical term for that thing is. "Get your men in position, we are going close to the ground."

"You heard him Rangers, we're Oscar Mike, get your ropes secured and prepare for a fight. When we hit the ground get into Wedge Formation." Wedge Formation basically looks like an upside down V, it is meant to break the front line of an enemies defense. It can be dangerous, in an open conflict it can get you surrounded if your not careful.

"Incoming!" The Captain yelled as the ship was hit by a bunch of spells, rocking it.

"Get those .50s up and lay down suppressive fire!" I screamed. On the side of the ship were 3 .50 Caliber Browning Air Cooled Heavy Machine Guns that began attacking the line of Albion Mage's. The area was a massive plane that offered no protection with the exception of a rock or 2. The enemy was shooting spells at almost 500 Ms, a lot of the spells missed but enough hit to begin doing damage. We picked this spot because the rising sun was behind us, blinding the enemy. The .50 Caliber guns began shooting trace fire that lit up as they went towards the enemy. It was a little hard to hit targets at this distance but with them so tightly grouped together you could almost shoot blindly.

We got to the edge and secured our fast ropes, I would be with the first wave on the ground, I always believed in leading from the front. I quickly descended 100 feet, followed by the rest of my men. When we hit the ground we took up a defensive position and got into a crouched firing position and provided cover fire for the rest of the men. Wave after wave landed until all of Alpha Platoon was on the ground, then came Bravo platoon.

"Wedge Formation, 10 M spread." I yelled out as we began to advance towards the enemy. All of Alpha Platoon took off running while Bravo Platoon gave us covering fire. After running 30 Ms we got down and they began to run as we gave covering position. I aimed my SAW and took short 3 to 5 round bursts into the lines of enemies, one by one watching them drop. They were still firing spells at us but from this distance they couldn't hit us, we were too spread out for them to reliably hit us. The ship took off, leaving us there to finish the job. It was too exposed and had to retreat.

"Sir, we have Calvary coming up our right flank!" Alex yelled out to me. I turned and saw 100 horses with armored knights charging right at us, armed with swords and wands.

"Bravo!" I screamed to Bravo Platoon. "Focus fire on the horses, we'll get the foot mobiles." Instantly they turned and began firing at the mounted knights. As the knights got closer they began to drop.

I heard a scream and looked over to see one of my men got hit by and explosion. His leg was broken and it was bleed badly with some parts of the bone sticking out. Being used to this sight it didn't bother me as much as the thought of one of my men getting hurt.

"Medic, we have an injured man here!" I yelled to our medic and he ran over from his firing position to heal the wounded man. I re-positioned myself so that I was in front of the Medic, using my own body as a shield to protect him. "Get down to a low firing position!" I yelled out and every man dropped onto his stomach to limit his chances of getting hit and giving him a more stable firing position. I of course, stayed in a crouched position to protect the Medic. Over the loud sounds of guns and explosions I could hear the wounded man scream bloody murder as he was being patched up.

"Incoming Calvary!" one of my men yelled as 10 horses managed to make it up to our lines. Hitting a moving horse is much harder than it seems. A few men got hit in the chest or head with a Sabre from the mounted knights, some were killed but most survived thanks to their armor and helmets. I took out my pistol and shot the horse as it was coming at me, which then fell down and the knight with him. Instantly the knight got back up and took a swing at me with his Sabre. I dodged it and dropped my 1911 and grabbed my Tomahawk from my belt.

As the knight tried to recover I took a swing with the back of the tomahawk which had a spike, and pierced through the mans helmet. Unfortunately it didn't go deep enough and only gave him a headache. He quickly recovered and stabbed me in the chest. My plated armor stopped it from going deep but I did feel the force of the impact. I gave him a swift kick to the nuts which was not armored and he staggered back, trying to recover from the hit. I then hit him with the front of my SAW which put him on his ass. I pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. I heard the sound of the gunshot as well as a clang from metal hitting metal and it was over. There was a small and neat hole in the front and blood pooled on the ground on the back of his head. Taking a second to get my 1911 and look around I saw that the remaining horses were dealt with, 5 of our own were either dead or injured from that.

BOOOM!

Another explosion hit near me, sending dirt and pebbles slamming into my face. I turned to see the army and they were charging at us and screaming as loud as they could in a powerful war cry that would have scared most men. Not going to lie, it almost made me shit bricks, almost. We continued firing at the remaining me, which were now 300 strong, and decreasing. After they reached 100 Ms I didn't even aim anymore. I held the gun at my hip and fired randomly into the crown of men. Before they could reach us their numbers went down to around 50, that's when they stopped. I ordered a cease fire and all my men stopped shooting.

For a moment we all just stood there, no one daring to make a move. Many of the Nobles were't wearing helmets and had a look of utter shock and fear on their face. All our guns were still pointed at them, no doubt intimidating them. One of the men, who looked very young took out something small in his hand.

"For Albion!" I screamed and threw it, also getting gunned down in the process. All hell broke loose and the Nobles were all killed. The thing he threw was a small old time fuse Grenade and landed right in front of me. I thought for sure I was dead.

"Grenade!" I heard Donald yell as he dove in front of me and landed on top of the old grenade. Just as he hit the ground the thing went off. I felt the concussive force hit my chest with amazing power, my ears began to ring and I felt some shrapnel hit me, but not enough to injure me or kill me. I collapsed, holding my ears from the massive ringing and trying to say words that didn't come. My mind was in a whirl, not being able to comprehend what was going on. At the time it didn't register that the poor kid had been killed.

A few moments later I could begin to hear voices, a Medic was over me and trying to check me for wounds. I'll tell you this much, it's not like in the movies where everything happens in slow motion, It all happened so fast I can't even think right now. As I was lifted up I felt cold all over, drenched in some kind of liquid. I looked down and saw that I was covered in blood, not my blood but Donald's blood. I felt sick, partly from the explosion but also from being drenched in the kids blood. I turned to the side and puked up everything that was in my stomach. After that got out I began to dry heave. Not only was I covered in his blood, but bone fragments littered my body.

I looked at the kids lifeless body, he was torn in half. His entire stomach and most of his chest was gone, his face frozen in pain. Apart of me wondered if he was still alive and could feel the agonizing pain. I couldn't think, I was just petrified at the whole scene.

"Sir, we have to move, the enemy has reinforcement's on the way!" Alex said. I still couldn't move, I was so transfixed on Donald's body. "Damn it!" Alex slapped me right across the face. I sobered up and looked at him. "If we don't move we're all dead, now get up and move!" I nodded, picking myself up from the blood stained grass.

"Radio command." I said to my radioman. "Tell them we will be unable to advance if reinforcements hit us, we will create a defensive position here and make them use resources against us." He nodded and began radioing command, which was located on a ship just off the border. "Men!" I called out as everyone looked at me. "We need to create a defensive position, get out your shovels and start making trenches. We will hold the line here." A Hooah was my reply. Command radioed that the enemy was sending a full force of 2,000 to attack us. They would arrive in 3 hours so we had very little time to waste.

There was 0 cover all around so we had to make due with trenches. 3 lines of trenches, each waist deep. The enemy would be attacking from the east, in that direction there was a hill roughly 5,000 Ms from our current position. They will be completely exposed. We had some C4 with us so we were going to make some traps. I had my men put a line of C4 4,000, 3,000, 2,000, 1,000 and 500 Ms away. Each one was remotely activated, this would thin their ranks considerably. As long as they just march in formation and not try to move we would be fine. It's be a real shooting gallery.

"Contact!" Alex yelled as the first couple of lines began to cross over the hill.

"Prepare the traps!" I said, Alex was responsible for hitting the buttons. As the front line went over the partly buried C4 we would detonate it. Not only would it be demoralizing to the enemy but having to walk past the mangled and mutilated corpses of their own men would slow them down. The anticipation was killing us, we were too anxious of what would happen. Using a pair of binoculars I waited till the front lines were just passing the traps. I gave Alex the go ahead.

The explosion was weak from this distance, but I could see mangled body parts and blood scatter everywhere. As the enemy got closer I saw the look of horror on their faces, some I could tell were planning on running. At the next mark I told Alex to hit the 3,000 M mark. The same result happened, body parts going every which way, demoralized troops etc.

At this point the Army began to charge at us, throwing random spells our way but too far to make much of an impact. Giving Alex the go ahead he hit the 2,000 M mark. I have to admit, Noble honor comes through, despite everything they are still running strong. The 1,000 M mark is passed and more blood is scattered. By this point 1/4TH of the Army is gone. Finally, our last line of defense, the 500 M mark, and then their numbers were reduced some more. Still they charged into no mans land.

"Prepare to fire on my mark!" I said. I wanted to wait till they were 300 M away, this way we maximize accuracy as much as possible. After what felt like hours of waiting, I gave the order. "Light those fuckers up!" And then my world was once again filled with loud bangs of gunshots and magical explosions. The enemy just charged, not a thought for their own life. Guess when you believe your blood is pure and your honor is worth more than death you become a bit insane.

Everywhere you look there is blood splattering from the hundreds of soldiers who are just dropping. It's a scene most couldn't imagine. Steeling my nerves I continued firing at the enemy. After a while the bodies piled up to the point where we could no longer see the enemy.

"Pick yourselves up, move and use the bodies for cover!" I said as 20 Rangers moved while the rest stayed back. Time to go on the offensive. We ran the 300 Ms, popping any poor fool who dared to climb over the wall of bleeding carcasses that lay before him. We all positioned ourselves behind the wall of bodies, pushing it over to get a better look at the enemy. At this point my 200 round belt was spent so I ditched it for my 1911. After toppling the wall, the Albion Nobles were just a few feet from us. It was like an old western quick draw, we all lifted our weapons and fired. Some of my men got hit with spells, most survived with injuries but some were killed. The enemy only had a fourth of their original size. At this point they could take no more. They all retreated, sounding trumpets and ran away from us.

"Cease fire!" I yelled and everyone complied. For the moment the battle was ours. I debated in chasing the Army but decided against it, there could be a trap if we decided to pursue the enemy. "The day is ours." I said. In normal circumstances it would be a celebration, but we lost some men. 7 men were dead, another 15 injured. Our casualties may be small but for us, every man dead is a brother.

I walked over to Donald's corpse, his face still frozen in pain. He was a good man, I would be dead if not for him.

"He did good." Alex walked beside me.

"He did." I said. There were no words that could describe how I felt. I'm not green, I've seen this scene a hundred times, lost more men then I cared to admit, but it never gets easier. No matter how many I kill, no matter how many men I lose and no matter what I see, the feelings I have will always be like this.

"I'll gather the dead, get them home and given proper funeral rights." I nodded.

"Donald's getting the Medal of Honor for this. I'll make sure of that." I said as I knelt down and took his Dog tags.

_Anderson_

_Donald F_

_Serial number_

_Buddhist _

The kid did good, damn good. I put my gloved hand over his bloodied face and gently shut his eyes. I will never forget this, because of him I can now go home and see my family.

I got off my knees and walked over to help take care of the dead, the battle was over and we won. What most people don't know is, winning a battle is nothing like what you would think. There's nothing happy or uplifting about it. Even 1 man lost is far too many.

**End Chapter 15**

I hope this action scene was more descriptive, tell me what you guys think. Tell me if this much description works.


	16. Chapter 16: Easy Day

**Chapter 16: Easy Day**

"Alpha 2 this is Delta 1, moving to point Bravo." Flint said lowly on the Radio as we moved to our Recon position. He gave the sign and took point, with me behind him and Trident behind me. Sword and Shield were scouting ahead of us.

We hid in a small cave until the invasion was over than regrouped with the main force. We all stayed for a week before pushing out again. I tell you, it's amazing how slow it takes to land 300,000 troops on a port in ye olden days. Due to the nature of the battle, knowing the enemies strength and such Command brought in more troops. NATO now has 1,000 troops in total. We also have 5 tanks and 5 Helicopters. This should give us a major advantage in the fight.

Our current mission was Recon, scout out the local town of South Gotha and report the numbers and any type of heavy artillery. It's a simple mission. Nothing too fancy. The area was surrounded by woods so there is no trouble with regards to stealth. Our Multi cam and proper face paint made us almost invisible in the morning light. I clutched my new M4 Carbine that had an Eotech holographic sight. All our weapons were more or less the same with slight differences.

Flint put his fist in the air, the hand signal meaning stop. We all slowly stopped and kneeled down, each man facing a different direction and covering all angles. Off in the distance we could hear the sounds of battle, gunshots, muskets and swords clanging together gave sure sign of the battle raging all around. In our current position we were located in between 3 major battlefields that had all 3 factions at war with each other. Members of the MARSOC provided support for the battle, snipers and scouts aided the main force and gave valuable Intel. We were not allowed to make our presence known since this was a recon mission, our only job is to scout out South Gotha. If we were to expose ourselves it could cause problems with the diplomatic ties with Halkeginia.

Once again Flint gave us the go ahead and we slowly moved across the forest, stopping every now and again to check the map and our direction, taking extra care not to bump into any enemy or friendly units. We stopped at a long valley, bellow us there was a fight between Tristain and Albion Mage's and Albion was winning. There were few men, only a dozen on either side, the rest of the hundreds were all dead all around the battlefield.

"We need to go around." Trident said in my ear.

"Bullshit, it would take to long, I say we run through." Eagle suggested. "It won't be too hard, they're too busy fighting each other, we can slip by un-noticed." He continued.

"Too dangerous." Countered Flint. "Remember what happened in Somalia? I got shot because of that." Eagle chuckled a bit.

"I did get you a purple heart." He said lightly.

"Enough, get your Frogman on." Trident said to his men. "Get your Frogman on" is a slang in the SEALs, it means quit bullshitting and be serious.

"I say we wait until this battle is over, by the looks of things it won't be for long." Anchor suggested. Their numbers were dropping significantly, originally this must have been a platoon of men, no more than 100 per army. Albion was winning with twice as many men left as Tristain. We weren't really allowed to engage but at the same time we were allowed to aid allies if they were losing, we just can't be seen.

"We'll set up a sniping position here and aid the Tristain forces." I said. "Once they win we will continue with the main objective, Flint, Radio Alpha and inform them of the situation." He nodded. Alpha 2 was Sword and Shield who were about a mile away from us, no doubt already at the town.

Everyone got to work, Flint did as instructed and the rest made a defensive position. On my back was a silenced M40 Bolt Action Marine Sniper rifle, those Jar heads had a good taste for snipers. I got on my stomach with Trident as my spotter.

"Think you can handle this boy?" He asked.

"I'm a crack shot, although I could use a bit of experience aid old man." I said. Trident was almost 50, he was getting to the point where he can't operate anymore physically. He says that by next year he's going to retire. He told me a bit about his family, it was not the best. His wife left him when he joined the SEALs at 28, she said she couldn't handle that life and the long deployments. He didn't have a good relationship with his only daughter, he tried to see her as much as possible but it wasn't so easy. His daughter is turning 18 in a few months, he says he wants to spend the time he missed with his daughter. Can't blame the old bastard, this is a lonely life. I fully expect to have that kind of regret when I get older but that is the sacrifice I have taken and the future I accept. I haven't even planned on living past 30 to be honest, I always thought I'd be dead by now.

"Closest target, 800 Ms, only need minor adjustment. There is almost no wind, no need for compensation." Trident went through all the calculations with his ballistic computer, rotation of the earth, elevation, temperature, Humidity, everything. After about 3 minutes I put the scope on target and aimed at the nearest target. Calming my breath, I listened to my own heart beat and squeezed the trigger in between the beat.

The man went down in a fountain of blood, a massive hole ripped out of his torso and blood splattering on his friends. They all looked flabbergasted but continued the fight. At this distance the Suppressor made the shot quite enough to not be heard over the screams of battle. I cocked the bolt back all the way and fed another bullet into the chamber. I made sure that the bolt was all the way back, sometime the bullet will not feed if it does not go all the way back and that can cause a misfire.

I put my targets on... Guiche? What is he doing here? He was dressed in armor and fighting for his life, he wasn't doing so good but his Golem things were doing a good job. One Albion soldier got behind him and was ready to hit him with a spell. I shot and missed Guiche but hit the man behind him. The mans head exploded and Guiche made a gesture I assumed was a scream.

I cocked the bolt back again and took aim again, this time hitting another man chasing Guiche, he was hit in the leg and it blew off. The man got up into a sitting position and tried to stand up. His leg was gone but I don't think he noticed. He must be in shock. It's weird watching him go into shock, it's like seeing that scene in Saving Pvt Ryan, where the guy is on the beach and in complete shock.

The man looked all around him, his eyes were glazed over and he couldn't process what was going on. Resisting any regret or sentiment I had for him I moved to my next target. At the moment I am high with adrenalin and am operating on instinct, I feel no emotions right now and am absorbed in the moment. I can tell though that I can add another nightmare tonight, playing that over and over again my head will make sleeping hard tonight.

The remaining Tristain survivors took off and ran for it, the Albion forces following, intent on ending their lives. After 5 minutes, all that remained were the dead and dying. Who the hell leaves wounded men like this. I guess honor and victory is above your own men in this society. I gave the signal and we packed up, we all moved down the valley and into the piles of dead bodies all around us. Crows flew in circles over head, not yet daring to eat this bountiful feast from hell.

I could hear moans and screams of agony, some men were blown apart, others burned and more still cut to pieces. Some men had their stomachs cut out and others were choking in a pool of their own blood. It was a nasty sight but I didn't let it get the best of me.

"It never goes away, does it?" Trident said.

"That's war, we can't change that." I said lowly.

"Makes you wonder if generals ever care about their own men." Trident said with a downed look.

"Can't expect them too, it's hard to care for men when all they are to you is a piece on a map or blip on the radar." I said.

"How do you mean?" He asked.

"That's all we are, you can't expect a general or a higher up to actually meet and care about every man in the Military. To him, they are pieces on a game, they sometimes forget there is real people dying. They never meet the families, never even see the man die. Those who have gotten to such a position sometimes forget the brotherhood we all shared. The only kind of true loyalty is the one forged in the foxholes between men in combat." I said.

"You're pretty wise for your age." Trident smiled. "I came to the same conclusion a few years ago, which is why I never wanted to get promoted beyond Captain. Can't imagine the thought of sitting behind a desk and dictating men's lives with a coffee in my hand. I would rather be in the mud and trenches of my own plan then to let others fight it for me."

"Let's keep moving." Flint spoke up slightly. I felt something hit my boot and looked down to see a dagger in-bedded in my toe. I had steel toed boots on so there was 0 penetration other than the thin layer of leather. I looked down to see the man I shot, he looked up at me with fear in his eyes, blood pooling at the spot where his leg once was.

"Why?" I asked me. "I loved my brother, and you took him from me." I looked over at the man he pointed to, the one I shot in the head. What was left of his head was a dozen fragments of skull, barely held together by skin that slowly peeled apart. Teeth and brain matter littered the spot above his head, in a sort of skimming fashion. "What does my sister have left?" He looked at me with sorrow. Without a word I knelt down to him, I took out my medical pack and took out some drugs that would dull the pain. I injected the man with some of it and heard a slight grunt from him. After a moment he slowed his breathing and was now numb.

It took me a good half hour but I was able to sterilize the wound and put some medical tape to stop the bleeding. All he would need now is rest and, despite not having a leg, he would be healthy again... Physically. I don't know how his psychological status is, but it won't be good. I packed everything up and motioned for everyone to move out.

"You saved me." The Noble said. "Why?" I did not answer. I could not answer, even I didn't know. Perhaps there is something out there, something that makes us good inside. But if we are naturally good than why is there war in the first place? Are you born good or evil, or do you become your own saint or demon? Is our lives dictated by choice, or forced on us by what we experience. Do we have the freedom to choose whether we are good or bad, or are we simply the product of a violent world? Our experiences shape and mold us into what we are, or can we really choose, you could drive yourself to the edge of insanity with the thought.

The man would be fine, the Albion forces would return and see to his injuries. He will never fight in a war again, but perhaps that is a blessing. Steeling myself we pushed onward to the Mission Objective. We reached a small cliff that overlooked the little town. It was a nice place, not many people out though, no doubt due to the war raging on just a few miles away. We set up an Observation post and began to watch the area, we reported everything we saw to Central Command, who would than direct the Intel to the Main attack force.

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"Lay down suppressive fire!" Alex screamed over the loud noise of explosions and spells. After a week of sitting with our thumbs in our ass we finally get to see some action. A squad of Rangers shot in the direction of the enemy and made them duck for cover. I will admit, these Nobles learned a thing or 2, they are actually taking cover behind trees and rocks instead of out right charging. Who would have thought?

"Push Forward men! We have to regroup with the main force!" I yelled. Our detachment was meant to push through the eastern flank of the Albion defenses, we ran into more defenses than anticipated so we called for reinforcement's, an M1 Abrams and a British Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank was on the way to assist us. The main Ranger force originally consisted of 200 Men but since the first day of battle our numbers dropped by 5, 4 wounded and 1 KIA. We were all equipped with standard weapons and ACU Universal Camo. I personally never liked it but you use what you got.

I ran from my cover to another tree that was only a few yards from where I was. I readied my SAW and laid down more cover fire. Many of the Albion forces didn't stand a chance. The enemy began to retreat and we knew the day was ours. I ordered my men to give another push and we charged the enemy out of the forest.

I ran out in front of my men, we all charged as the enemy retreated. Just before we broke the forest line I ordered an immediate halt. Last thing I wanted to do was run straight into an ambush.

"Alex, with me. We'll scout out the field, everyone wait here until we return." My men nodded. Slowly we got down on our stomachs and slowly crawled out of the tree line. The field was massive, another endless expanse of open grass planes. The grass was about knee high so it was perfect for concealment.

"See anything?" Alex asked, I shook my head. Aside from the retreating forms of a defeated Albion Army, there was nothing I could see. I pulled out my radio.

"Predator 1-3, requesting aerial visual of Sector Tango-3-1-5, over. Infrared, can you confirm if there is anyone hiding in the grass?" I asked. A Predator Drone was used as the eye in the sky for advancing forces. Currently there were 5 in the sky, over looking the entire NATO force.

"Negative, nothing showing on Thermals." I gave the thumbs up to Alex.

"Let's get back to the Rangers and give them the news." Right as I said that Alex collapsed, followed by a loud bang. That was sniper fire! I ducked down to conceal my self in the brush.

"Fuck that felt weird." Alex whispered to himself.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Fine, damn plate carrier saved my life." That wasn't from a Mage, that was a legitimate Sniper round.

"What's going on? Friendly fire?" I asked.

"No, there is no way we could be mistaken, and that shot sounded like nothing I have ever heard of." Alex said, we were both kneeled down as low as we could go.

"Did you get a count of how long the interval was between the bullet impact and gunshot?" I asked.

"You know what, I was a bit in shock of getting shot out of no where so yes, I got your God damn interval." Alex Sarcastically hissed.

"We have an unknown with miles of open cover and a damn good shot. This would be impossible to advance, we would get completely destroyed out there. This field is at least 5 miles long, he could go anywhere." I concluded.

"He hit me dead center in the heart, so he is either a crack shot or close by." Alex continued.

"And the interval was noticeable, I'd say about 500 Ms?" Alex nodded.

"At this distance we can't move without getting our heads blown off, any ideas?" Alex asked.

"We will return to the others and wait for the tanks to get here, no Sniper in his right mind would take on 2 fully equipped Battle Tanks. Command expected this, they may have created a carbon copy of a rifle and are using that. At which case he would have no defense against a Tank." We both slowly crawled back to the tree line and regrouped with the others. I explained the situation to the Rangers and formulated a plan.

"We will regroup with the heavy armor and than go through the field and continue with the main mission objective. If the Sniper attacks he will be dealt with, however odds are he will retreat or stay hidden." My men gave a silent nod. We all sat there in the blood soaked dirt, waiting for the tanks to get here. Some of the Albion Nobles were still alive so we had medics assess their injuries and patch them up. Even in this land the Geneva Convention still applies. All POWs must be treated humanly, otherwise you could get Court Martialed and be dis-honorably discharged.

After a few minutes the Tanks appeared, slowly driving through the forest. The forest was very thin, there was enough spaces between the trees to allow tanks to pass through. The M1 and the Challenger rolled up, the Commander peaked his head out of the hatch of the Challenger.

"Where to?" He asked.

"We have a Sniper." I told him. "We don't know who it is but he is located in an open field beyond this tree line, we need the tanks to provide cover and eliminate the hostile if he reveals himself." The tank commander relayed the orders to the Abrams. "Move out." I declared.

We broke the tree line and marched across the field. Even with a tank there is still a major danger, some Mage's have spells capable of passing through the armor of a tank. These Mage's are few, but they are strong enough to severely damage a Tank. The tanks led the way while the 200 Rangers followed behind. It's kind of amazing, this is the first time NATO has fought a powerful Military Force that is capable of conventional warfare. Our tactics have returned to the WW2/Vietnam tactics of the old days.

It was actually going too easy, so far the resistance we fought have been strong but not as strong as predicted. The total Albion force was around 1 million, so far on total we haven't even faced 10 thousand yet. Command suspected that they were leading us into a trap, a tactical retreat meant to stretch our supply lines and cripple our main force with low supplies, than they would attack with a full force. Due to this fear NATO made the front lines advance very slowly so the lines weren't stretched. The debates were fun to watch, Nobles saying they wanted this war ended before the month is up and NATO allies wanting to take their time. All good things happen with patience.

"Robert, do you know where the attack came from?" Asked my superior officer, Sergeant First Class Mike Daniels asked.

"11:00 o clock position, anywhere from 500 to 1500 Ms." I replied.

"Do you know what he is armed with?" Mike asked.

"No sir, all I know is that it is some kind of modern weapon, possibly with some kind of optic like a scope or something. Other than that I can confirm that it is a rifle caliber, possible similar size to the 7.62X51MM round." I said. The damage to Alex's armor suggested some kind of Rifle round so I compared it to one of our modern rounds.

"Any kind of heavy weaponry?" He asked.

"Doubtful, odds are they did manage to reverse engineer our weapons but anti-tank technology is impossible to reverse engineer with their limited resources." Mike nodded.

THUMP BANG!

I fell to the ground, my ears ringing and I felt very dizzy. I threw up and the bile burned my throat, my eyes watered and I could not see or hear anything. The world spun around me and I felt men trip and step on me, desperately trying to find a hide point. I opened my now red and tear filled eyes and took a look around. Everything moved in slow motion as smoke and fire filled my vision. The M1 Abrams was severely damaged, the treads were destroyed and the gun moved in the direction to my right. I looked and saw a stream of smoke right in front of me. That was a rocket. I followed the trail and saw a man running, about 500Ms in the distance. The tank took a shot but missed the man.

"Rob, get up!" Alex yelled as he grabbed my shoulders and dragged me to safety. My hearing was just starting to come back but the sickness I felt was almost unbearable. All of a sudden my hearing returned and was replaced with the shouting of orders and the firing of guns. "Command, this is Ranger 2-1, we have been hit by an unknown hostile, carrying modern anti-armor weapons, repeat. Unknown hostile carrying modern anti-armor weapons." He said.

"What the fuck is going on!" I yelled.

"That rocket nearly took your head off, we're advancing now." He said. I picked myself off the ground and moved forward. I scanned everywhere but could not find this Sniper. He managed to disappear in the dense grass. After a few moments the firing halted and we were left again in silence. Whoever that Sniper was, he was much more skilled than any Albion Soldier could be with modern technology. Something didn't add up.

"Everyone, move out!" Shouted Sergeant Mike. We continued to our objective, this time ready for anything.

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We surveyed the area for over 3 hours and gave a detailed report of everything we saw. We took photos and recorded videos and audio that we sent back to Command via a laptop. So far nothing interesting was happening, the forces were pulling out and practically giving us the town. This confirmed our suspicions of trying to weaken our supply lines.

"Unknown entering the area." Trident said. "Near the bar." I zoomed in with my optics and saw a woman dressed in black. She was supposedly the new leader of Albion. "Wait, check... Confirmed, unknown is Code Black." The woman was waiting in front of the bar for something.

"Someone is approaching her." I said as I saw a man dressed in some kind of black suit. On his back was 3 large bags that looked heavy due to how they moved when the man walked. The man approached the woman and began to speak about something.

"Get photos of the man, try to confirm who he is." Trident said. I took some snap shots of his face, he looked average but what struck my attention was his jet black hair. From what I gathered from Saito, the only ones here who have black hair are either from our world or a descendant of a man from our world, like that maid friend of his.

"He's getting something from his pocket." I said. The man reached into a bag that was on his hip and pulled out a... gun? Not just any gun but a Luger German pistol. He casually pointed it at the woman and began to threaten her. After they exchanged some words the man holstered the weapon and turned to walk away.

"Alpha this is Delta." Trident said on his radio. "Can you confirm a Luger pistol in the mans hands?" He asked Sword and Shield who were on the other side of town.

"Roger Delta, there is no mistaking it, that is a Luger." Sword replied.

"Want to follow him?" I asked.

"Negative, we don't know if he has friends, we will relay this information to Central Command and proceed from there." Trident said.

"Understood, transmitting photos now." I grabbed the laptop and sent the photos to Command. This is going to be a long war.

**End Chapter 16 **

Sorry for the long wait, as always please leave any Reviews, Comments or constructive criticism, thank you.


	17. Chapter 17: R&R

**Sorry for the long wait. Been busy lately. If there is anyone interested in video games, I have a YouTube Channel called Helmcast. We are doing video game news and reviews. Right now we are doing Assassins Creed 4, so if you're interested check it out.**

**Chapter 17: R&R**

You know, this town is actually kind of beautiful and peaceful. South Gotha, the newly conquered town of the now called "Albion war" was actually pretty nice. The people weren't bad and in fact they welcomed their invaders with open arms. I've been on a few escort missions in Afghanistan with the Marines and Army and it was like this sometimes. The locals would get curious and be polite. Other times you get a rock thrown at your head and spit flying in your direction.

Word of the "Commoner Army" has spread all throughout Albion, with the war there were almost no nobles so everyone else were commoners who were intrigued with our Military. Throughout the streets there were patrols of NATO and Tristain forces, meant to keep the peace. There were a few kids who were playing a ball game with some Marines who were supposed to be on duty. There was a Ranger hitting on some random girl and everyone was having a good time.

The Recon mission I did was actually pointless, seeing as how the whole Albion army just took everything from the town and ran for it. The people were left defenseless and prime for the slaughter, but luckily we're a little more polite than that. After giving them food and security they took to us like kids to their parents. Actually, it was more like servitude, these people simply traded 1 master for another, not having the ability to dictate their own lives. The concept wasn't so foreign to me though, I've been to places much worst than this. In all honesty, these people may be in slavery but it's not so bad in comparison to other places. In the middle east a woman could be stoned to death (Throwing rocks at a tied up victim until they die) for walking out of her own house without a male escort.

"Yo, Eugene!" I heard Rob call from behind me. "Yo, me and some of the guys are heading to a bar, you coming?" He asked.

"Yea, sounds good." I said. We both walked over there while talking about some stupid things, like remembering the time we tried to steal the test answer papers and got suspended for a week. Good times.

"How's the war been treating you so far?" He asked me.

"How does any war treat you?" I answered his question with a question.

"Very true, I've already lost a few guys." He said. "Did you hear the reports of "Hayha" that has been attacking our troops?" He asked me.

"Yea, some kind of sniper that has been harassing troops for days." I replied. Due to my mission standards I could not reveal any information I found to him because it is not relevant to completing any mission. It's hard not to tell my friend of this strange assassin of the battlefield, but any leaked information could put my life, or the lives of every man in severe danger.

We got to the bar and it was complete anarchy on the inside. There were Marines there doing what Marines do best on deployment, drinking, flirting and just being complete dumb asses. Most of them were between 18 and 25, not to mention every Marine thinks he's a bad ass so how else would you expect them to act? We got our own table and ordered some drinks. Un-like the rest of them, I could get called for another assignment at any time so I can't get intoxicated. I decided to make my limit 1 glass of whisky. I'm a good drinker so this would only get me slightly buzzed, not too bad.

"Captain Riptide?" I heard behind me.

"Guiche?" I asked, slightly surprised to see him. He walked up to us confidently, a proud smirk on his face and his chest pushed out to show a glint of what looked like a medal on his chest.

"Good to see you Captain, how have you been?" He asked.

"Pretty good, you?" I asked.

"First, how about we all sit together." Guiche said as he motioned to Saito sitting with... That gay guy from the inn I stayed at my first day here. Shit.

"Sounds good." Rob smirked as he eyed the 2 black haired girls sitting next to Saito.

"Captain." Saito said as he stood up and shook my hand.

"Good to see you kid, I though you were sitting this war out." I said.

"Louise decided to help out so I came along." He said. We all gathered around the table, Guiche polishing his new medal.

"What'd you get the medal for?" I asked Guiche.

"It's the Medal of Honor, I got it from General Porche for my distinguished on the battlefield." He laughed proudly. Ever seen a balloon inflate from a helium tank? Imagine that and Guiche's head.

"A Medal of Honor?" Rob repeated. "In our Military the Medal of Honor is the highest medal you can get, does the same apply here?" He asked.

"Of course, any Nobel who shows courage and honor is awarded this, my father has 5 of them." He said and he gave it another wipe with his cloth. Where are yours?" He asked us.

"In our Military it's a little harder to get them, these days most men who get them are dead because their honor came from their sacrifice, knew a good friend of mine who died radioing help in an open field. Not to mention it can take years before you're considered." I said.

"You have no medals at all?" Guiche asked.

"A few but mostly things from training and service medals." Rob said.

"3 Purple hearts and the Navy Silver Star of Valor. Than again the hearts are ribbons, not medals." I said the last part to myself.

"Purple Hearts?" Guiche asked.

"You get those when wounded in combat." I said. "It's a way of saying, "Guess what, you got shot so here's a ribbon to make you feel better"." Me and Rob laughed but the others didn't.

"How have you not gotten any awards? From what I heard your Rangers have shown great courage in combat." Guiche said.

"It's different with us." Rob said. "Warfare is a part of our society. Even in times of "Peace" we are constantly fighting. We are currently in several wars right now, Somalia, Afghanistan, North Korea..." I cut him off.

"Somalia isn't technically a war, and North Korea is a stand off, not an open conflict." I retorted.

"Same thing applies." He said.

"How can your Military handle all of that?" The petite maid Siesta asked.

"It's not like we are fighting massive armies, they're more like Rebel groups trying to over through their local government. Al Qaeda for example is a Rebel group trying to over throw the Afghanistan government. By the Way Rob." I turned to him. "We're at war with Al Qaeda not Afghanistan, big difference." I said.

"All these years and you're still so technical." He shook his head.

"Good trait to have as a Special Operator." I laughed.

"Speaking of which." Guiche interrupted. "I have never heard anything about you're Seal units, why is that?"

"Because the SEALs are the elite of the elite. No one is even supposed to know we exist." I said.

"Yet everyone and their mother knows about them." Saito said, which was kind of out of character from him.

"Yea well, we needed new recruits, SEALs could always use more guys." I said.

"What is you're Nations purpose?" Jessica, the girl next to Saito with the big breasts. You know they're big when Rob can barely keep his eyes off of them, something I think Jessica noticed but doesn't say anything about it.

"A lot of things really, mainly resources and things like that. We don't take land anymore, we aid other countries in getting a strong foundation for themselves." I said. "In fact, very few of our wars have actually been enacted by us. Afghanistan, Vietnam, WW2, even the Gulf, all these wars were in self defense... Well, Vietnam was debatable but we did aid and protect France when the Vietnamese rebelled against them and aided with Communist Russia." I began to ramble.

"Well, no matter what the reasons, soldiers will always fight for their honor and birth right." Guiche said proudly.

"Wrong again buddy." Rob smiled.

"What do you mean?" Guiche asked.

"We may go to war for God and country." I began, picking up where Rob left off. "But when in the trenches, when the lead starts to fly all that goes out the window. In the thick of it, we fight and die for the man next to us. Real soldiers are the ones who stand side by side and would willingly sacrifice their own lives so their buddies and brothers in arms can go back home to their wives." I stated proudly.

"Do you not care about your honor?" Guiche asked. "Why sacrifice your life for a single soldier. Wouldn't it make more sense to sacrifice for the country?"

The thing about us is, we will sacrifice everything so every man goes home, even in a body bag." I said. "I've been on numerous missions where I went into hostile territory to bring back the body of a dead Marine, a dead comrade. We never leave our fellow soldiers behind. We all come home, dead or alive."

"OORAH!" Apparently all the Marines heard that sappy little speech and let out a Oorah.

"It seems like a wasted effort, why risk the lives of other men to save a man who is already dead?" You know, Guiche did have a point. From a logical perspective, it makes absolutely no sense. The smart thing to do would let the body rot. If he was alive that would be one thing, but dead all he would do is waste man power and money.

"Because fuck you, that's why." I said. Fuck logic, everyone comes home dead or alive.

"What ever you say." Guiche said, going back to polishing his medal. God, he looked like such an arrogant aristocrat with that smug grin. Ok, granted I had the same look my first medal but still.

"So how are you and Louise doing bondage boy." I changed the subject to Saito. He quickly grew bright red, almost like a crab getting sunburned but it rose some eyebrows around the table.

"What's bondage?" Jessica asked. I ignored the question because I knew they wouldn't know. Without the internet, girls of their age wouldn't know too much about fetishes or even too much about sex.

"Oh my, it is something you children should not know of." The creepy gay guy said.

"But dad..." Jessica began... did she say...?

"Wait, did you say dad?" I asked.

"Yes, Scarron here is my father." Jessica said, her eyes rolling like she heard that a million times.

"Of course, do you really think a lady like me could not have ever..." Scarron began to blush, refusing to say it in front of his daughter. Which was funny because of his choice of business.

"I though you were gay." I said out right.

"Dude." Rob began. "Just because a guy looks and acts gay doesn't mean he is, homophobe." He whispered that last part but I heard him and flipped him off. I also caught him giving a wink to Jessica, who in turn blushed but narrowed her eyes in a very seductive manner. I sure hope she's legal or else Rob could get Court Martialed. All of a sudden my pager began to vibrate.

"Really?" Saito asked. "You have a pager?"

"Yea, all SEALs are required to have one, some conversations can't be used over the phone so this is basically a way of calling everyone for a mission." Saito shrugged.

"Whatever you say drug dealer." He laughed at his own poor joke.

"Not as fun as Masochism but whatever." I smiled evilly as once again he turned bright red as everyone who understood the joke (Rob and Scarron) laughed at Saito's expense. I believe that's me 5 and him 0.

"I'll catch you later Rob, if I'm in heaven before you I'll buy the drinks." I saluted my old friend.

"Hooah tadpole." He said back as he stood and saluted back. "Make sure you get the hard stuff, nothing less than good old fashion whiskey."

After walking to the makeshift FOB (Forward Operating Base) I showed my ID and was let into the perimeter. After arriving in the meeting room I saw everyone else was there as well.

"Al right, good." Walker said as I walked in. "We have a new assignment today, one pertaining to our lost Delta boys." We all got quite and listened intently as if we were about to see a big plot twist in our favorite movies. "At around 01:00 last night some of our boys from Marines Recon found something interesting. They found a prison transport vessel heading into this region here." The map showed Albion just 30 miles north of our current position. "It's a Forward Operating Base that houses over 300 thousand troops who are preparing for a counter attack. A little further north are more camps and we estimate no less than 1 million ground forces preparing for an assault."

"How accurate are these numbers?" Trident asked in a gruff and tired voice. You could hear in his voice that age was beginning to catch up with him. Which is bad for the enemy because experience trumps everything.

"Fairly accurate, we are in for one hell of a fight in the future. For now they are holding their position and waiting. We are currently in a stalemate. We are too well fortified with Tristain's help and they are unable to advance forward. However we are also unable to break through their defenses. We are out numbered severely, even with Tristain and Germania." Walker said.

"So what's the plan?" Flint asked.

"We are going to send SOF teams to help disrupt the enemy force. However for you guys you're doing something different. Your mission is to infiltrate the main enemy FOB and get any Intel on our missing Dboys."

"How would we be getting in? Go in through the front door?" Sword said in a smart ass voice.

"Actually, yes." The admiral said. I chuckled a bit and Sword flipped me off. "We have managed to get some of the enemies armor, you will pose as soldiers and get in. You will be armed with low profile weapons and pistols. The weapons will be suppressed but you must not engage unless it is necessary. If you are captured we won't be able to launch a rescue mission until we manage to go on the offensive."

"Understood." We saluted. We began to get ready for the mission by doing our usual routine, getting our weapons and such. The armor we got dressed in was a typical middle ages armor, it consisted of a chest plate, those plated skirt things, shin plates and shoulder plates. We also had a helmet with a narrow opening to see. On our sides was a simple broad sword and a shield strapped to our backs. On our belt was a small pouch that contained our pistols. I had a Sig P229, it is a smaller and more compact version of the P226.

Right as we finished putting it on, Henrietta walked into the room, dressed in her revealing armor. Seriously, how can you fight in that?

"Admiral." She bowed to Walker.

"Your Highness." He did the same. "I believe the Operation is given a green light?" He asked. Henrietta cocked her head to the side. No electricity means no lights, so that figure of speech went right over her head.

"It means can we proceed?" I said. She blushed slightly at herself and nodded.

"Yes, although we can not condone these dis-honorable tactics, we will allow it for the sake of your friends in trouble." We all kept our mouths shut. I admit, I felt bad about lying to her... Again. But this is how we wage war, this is diplomacy. Many may call us evil or bad for keeping these secrets, but it is how we survive. In war, you can not be honest. Even to your allies you can't be honest. You're allies are the most dangerous variable of a war and the last thing you want to do is depend on them, either because they could fail or betray you.

"Don't worry, it's a once in a life time thing." I reassured her. It was hard looking her in the eyes, I don't know why but it was difficult to lie to her. Normally I could put my guilt aside no problem but this really bothered me.

"Of course Captain, you will all do fine I believe. Be careful, and be sure to bring your friends home safely." She bowed. I gave her a salute, even though she was a monarch she was still a soldier, she still fought with her army. To me, she was a soldier and an ally so she deserves no less than a soldiers respect.

"Get ready for hell gentlemen." Walker said. We all piled outside to a waiting carriage, which would take us the rest of the journey to the out skirts of the enemy FOB. From there we would link up with an Albion force and pose with them. Without the aid of electronic information and machines to detect a person identity, sneaking in should be fairly easy. Not to mention, those pompous Nobles would never suspect a "Dishonorable" tactic like this.

I got into the back and we began our journey to the enemy camp.

**End Chapter 17**


	18. Chapter 18: Did Not See That Coming

**Chapter 18: Did Not See That Coming**

"Stop." An Albion guard said as our wagon neared the front gate. "What platoon are you with?" He asked.

"We're with the 9TH Cannon Division, we got separated and need to regroup with our men." Shield said. Since Albion spoke English English it made sense to have Sword and Shield do all the talking.

"Understood, you are allowed entrance." Luckily without any type of digital technology or way of quickly and accurately identifying men it was easy to slip in. Not to mention with the Honor system they have been practicing for centuries the very idea an enemy would dress up like them and attack from the inside would get a soldier Court Martialed, or whatever they did to disgrace soldiers.

The Camp was rather big, very big in fact. With 300,000 troops I'd wager the whole damn thing was as big as New York City. Most tents were made quickly and only served as a small shelter, barely able to lay in. All around were men talking, dancing, partying, playing and doing anything to pass time. Some huddled around a camp fire and just talked, and others played games and even some did mock duels. The Separation was also pretty obvious, on the outer parts of the camp were poorly made tents to house commoners while the inside was covered in large and nice camps for the nobles.

We got off our Wagon as we entered the inner noble ring and proceeded to the main tent. With the helmets no one would suspect who we were. Occasionally we were stopped by a Noble for "Wandering outside the Commoner area" but quickly silenced him by saying we were delivering a message.

As we neared the main camp that housed the leader of this Army we waited outside from a distance for a bit, observing the immediate area. We began to act casual, making it look like we were doing something while watching the tent. I personally pretended to fix something on my armor. As long as I stayed moving I would naturally blend in with the dozens of other soldiers just going about their business.

"How copy?" I whispered over the radio. We placed small C4 charges around the perimeter of the tent. In case things go south we can detonate them and cause enough confusion to escape.

Sword and Shield distracted the guards on the front with random talk while the rest of us cut open the back of the tent. In the dark of the night it was difficult to see us and not many would even check on us, most likely out of laziness. After stepping in we saw that the rather large tent was empty. It was about the size of a large living room with all sorts of Victorian decorations. Towards the left was a table that had all the maps and documents of the war.

Due to the fact that we couldn't read Halkeginian writing we bagged up as much documents as we could and looked around the room for anything else. Many of the designs looked interesting, while we couldn't read anything there were detailed diagrams of some kind of firearm modeled after the M16. It looked much like the ones I found on those Assassins but more detailed and upgraded. There was one Document I found very interesting.

"Trident, look at this." I said and motioned him over. "What do you make of this?" I asked. His eyes widened just like mine. There was a seal in wax on the bottom right hand corner of the parchment. The more I looked it over the more I realized that I could read it. The words were simple to read, that shouldn't be normal in Halkeginia.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked.

BANG!

All of a sudden a loud bang echoed through the small tent, blood spattered on the table soaking a lot of papers in blood. There was a loud crash next to me and I looked over to see Trident laying on the ground, a neat hole through his neck and bits of the armor around his neck laid near him. While my mind had trouble processing it my instinct knew he was dead and that his spinal cord in his neck was shattered. Even if we could get him medical treatment, which was unlikely in these circumstances, there was no way of saving him.

in less than a second from the first bang several more followed and again more sounds of bodies hitting the floor. This time however they were followed with a scream. After the 3RD bang was heard I finally managed to draw my 229 and fired somewhat blindly at the source of the bang. All I caught was a blur of black as whoever shot my men ran outside of the hole we made in the tent.

Collecting myself I mentally checked my surroundings, Trident was dead and Flint and Anchor were wounded. Flint took one to the shoulder cavity while Anchor has one in the lower abdomen. Eagle collected himself as well and went to the aid of the 2 men.

"They're hurt but if we can get out of here quickly we can escape." I nodded. Voices were heard outside as the 2 guards walked in. Before they could utter a word there were 2 soft pffs and the guards fell. Behind them were Sword and Shield who acted quickly. With the suppressors it nullified the 9MM bullet enough to be very quiet, add to that the muzzle being pushed into soft flesh it was almost impossible to hear the bang.

"Sword, Shield." I called to them. "Grab Flint and Anchor, Eagle you get Trident and we're getting the hell out of here." I said. Like I said before, everyone comes home, dead or alive.

We picked them up and walked out of the tent.

Outside we heard the familiar sounds of clicks and rattles of firearms pointed at us. In front of us were a dozen Albion soldiers pointing M16 clones at us. there were 2 lines of them, the first line was on their knees while the second line stood strait up. In front of all of them was that woman in black, I believe her name was Sheffield.

"Surrender your Arms and you will be sparred." She said with confidence. "You will be treated with hospitality and we will even treat your wounded friends." I knew that odds of getting out of this were slim. Even if those copy guns were shit as hell accurate with those many pointed at us a few were bound to get lucky. "I say again, lay down your arms and surrender. You have proven your honor like a Noble, despite your Commoner status. Surrender and you will be treated with hospitality."

"She's lying." Anchor wheezed despite the hole in his gut. "They'll just lock us up in a hole." Remembering the way I first rescued them I was inclined to believe.

I mentally ran the chances of success in my head. If we surrender there is a chance of a rescue when NATO goes on the offensive. If we try to fight back we are screwed. Sword, Shield and Eagle were all carrying someone, I was the only one who could actually fight. A lot of people see movies and games and think that getting shot in the shoulder does little damage and the guy can still fight. In reality you can't even lift your arm not to mention hold a gun. Plus, depending on where it was hit it could lead to permanent damage and end Flints career as a SEAL.

"Who dares, wins." Shield whispered.

"If there is even a small chance of success we'll take it." I replied. If anything, saying our respective units moddo boosted our moral. You don't become an SOF by playing safe, you have to be confident and take risks.

"What will it be?" Sheffield asked as he men readied to fire. I took out the C4 detonator and prepared to push the switch. Sheffield raised her eyebrow at the action but did not order the fire. I pressed the button and then... nothing... fuck, don't tell me those were duds.

"Is that how you say you surrender?" She asked. I began clicking it a few more times but again nothing happened.

"Safety dumb ass." Shield said. I mentally face palmed myself. I just made the dumbest rookie mistake of my life. I turned it off and pushed the button.

BOOOM!

All of a sudden the entire area surrounding the tent blew up and killed dozens of men. The ones aiming at us turned around to look at it and that was our cue. We all pulled out our guns and began firing at the men. By the time the turned and fired at us most were already incapacitated.

Sheffield ran away from the carnage and that was the last I saw of her for the night. In the confusion we all ran into a crowd of retreating soldiers. With so many injured it would be impossible to find us, we would blend right into the crowd. We got into a Wagon and loaded our wounded and dead. Shield took the reins and I got on top of the Wagon while Sword rode shotgun.

He got the horses going and we were off. The few soldiers that saw through the confusion and noticed us were dealt quickly with a 9MM through the torso. We made it to the entrance of the camp, the guards let us through when we told them we had to deliver the dead and wounded home.

After the high of combat wore off I looked over to Trident, his eyes still wide in surprise and skin white as snow from the sever blood loss. I thought back to what he told me, he was going to retire after this campaign and live his remaining years with his daughter. I felt very depressed and saddened. I've never cared much for my own life, but seeing a brother die was almost too much to handle. Anchor and Flint would be getting leave, no doubt our team would be put on hold until the men are replaced. I buried these thoughts for now and kept my head on a swivel, there's a time for crying but if we break now than we would need more shovels. Looking around I knew everyone felt the same, we all felt like shit and couldn't talk. We were professionals though not some emotional school girl. I've never seen an SOF soldier cry before the funeral and I've never seen one cry during a mission. We had to lock that pain away for now to stay alive.

* * *

It's been a long fucking day. We've been sent out on patrols all day and have been doing nothing but walking the same 3 mile area for hours. Even though Rangers are normally a light infantry force, given the low amount of man power we have been going on patrol and supply missions. For these missions we had heavy plated armor along with Kevlar protecting our shoulders and thighs. Since these were simple patrols we could lose a lot of our survival equipment and afford to have heavier armor since we wouldn't be marching across unfamiliar terrain.

"Rob checking in" I said over the radio. Every 10 minutes we had to check in to make sure there were no gaps in the perimeter. With us were members of the 21ST Commoner Infantry, armed with swords and other melee weapons. They were all members of the Tristain Army and let me just go on record saying, I love the hero worship. They are treating us like celebrities, the Commoners who stood against thousands of Mage's and won. I couldn't help but hold my head high and puff out my chest like a Greek hero.

Most of them were young, about 16 to 20, apparently just young boys looking to make a name for themselves in this war. Even though Commoners don't get much recognition they are rewarded for their services.

"Can I please see your musket?" There is one thing that really gets annoying.

"No, you can not." I said as one of the younger soldiers asked for my weapon. Seriously, they can't touch it.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because without proper training you could seriously injure yourself." I opted for an M240 this time. It's more or less the same as the M249 with minor differences and the fact that it fires the 7.62X51MM. I also had tracer rounds added, every 3RD round was a tracer so it would be easier to aim and compensate at long distances. After all, the area we were patrolling was a massive open plain. SOFs aren't the only ones who customize their gear for certain missions. Sometimes a smaller round does the job better. In this case I went with the 7.62 because it has superior range over the 5.56. Keep in mind this is the 7.62X51MM, not the AK 7.62X39MM, there is a massive difference between them. Literally massive.

I motioned for the kid to shut up as I looked over in the distance.

"Command we have possible contact over, location 0, 5, Oscar over." I said and waited for a response.

"We read you Ranger what's the Sitrep over?" Command asked.

"I will confirm situation over." I said and motioned my men into position. Most of my Rangers were armed with M14 EBRs, M249/M240s and M110 snipers since there was such a massive open area. After what happened in our first battle we preferred to keep an 800 M distance from the enemy and 5.56s begin to lose their accuracy at that distance.

My Rangers went prone and laid down on the in front of us. They would handle the long distance fighting while the Tristain Army hung back. If the enemy got too close the Rangers would fall behind them and Tristain would do the CQC fighting. In our age of firearms we lost our effectiveness in massive hand to hand battles. Guns, even bayonets are awkward to use for medieval style combat.

I looked through my binoculars and spotted a small force of around 3,000 men. We only had 50 Rangers and Tristain had over 300 men. We were a small patrol but we could radio for back up. In about a half hour we could bring 100 NATO troops and 1,000 Tristain/Germanian troops for aid.

The Army was moving in and preparing for a charge, judging the distance they were about 2,000 Ms out, damn near impossible to see without aid. They marched in a Legion and disciplined manner, much like the Roman Army of old.

The front lines began to part and out road horses pushing massive things. I couldn't really see from this distance what they were, even with my binoculars. After a while the Army disappeared in a blur of silver. There was something covering them but I couldn't make out what it was. After some time the silver blur began to get wider and wider.

"Alex, what is that?" I asked handing my Binoculars to him.

"I don't know sir, I can't get a good look." He said.

"Command this is Ranger, we have unknown enemy activity and what ever it is it's heading our way. Requesting reinforcement, enemy numbers are in the thousands sir, over." I said.

"Understood, sending units to your position ASAP, ETA 45 Mikes over." I told Alex the good news. After a few moments the blur got bigger and bigger. As it got closer I saw what it was.

"Oh shit." I said to no one in particular. The blur as it turns out is not 1 blur but several. Massive Steel Walls, about the height of a man can can cover 3 men shoulder to shoulder. Like a Greek Phalanx they many of these side by side on wooden wheels and marched it forward. As they reached 1,000 Ms I gave the order to start firing. Loud gun shots, all with massive bullets went right at the enemy.

After spending thousands of rounds of ammunition and another 200 Ms away I ordered a cease fire. The walls were dented but it didn't even slow down. Let's put the strength of Steel into perspective, a 3 inch thick steel wall can stop a .50 caliber bullet. If the steel is anything like that thickness it would be impossible for a 7.62 to penetrate it.

The wall was over 800 Ms wide so I couldn't flank it without making my men exposed. Finally, after half an hour the wall got within 150 Ms of us. When it reached that mark it just stopped. I got into the prone position with my men and waited to see what would happen.

Within seconds all hell broke loose. The walls lowered forward showing thousands of Albion troops armed with some kind of Musket. All of a sudden me and my men were hit with a volley of lead. At this distance the accuracy was poor but the massive volume made up for that. Over a 5TH of the total forces went down in 1 volley. Even without my orders my men began firing at the massive amount of troops. Those muskets weren't ordinary, I saw them open the back of it and load an entire bullet into the back. We were told to look out for these M16 clones that operated like trap door guns but until now we didn't see them.

In less than 10 seconds we were hit by another volley of shots. Half of my entire Ranger division was either injured or dead. We had superior guns but there were so many men that we couldn't stop even a fraction of them from firing.

"Fall back!" I ordered the retreat. I picked up the nearest wounded man and went into a full retreat. I fell after something hit my back but climbed to my feet and ran again, I nearly learned that a ball impacted my armor but not nearly enough force to break through. After getting a few hundred Ms, outside of the effective range of those volleys I radioed command.

"Command this is Sgt Rob, we have been attacked by a volley of men with those M16 clones, Heavy casualties, requesting immediate assistance over." I yelled over the confusion.

"Understood, dispatching our F-22 to deal with the threat over." The F-22 that is used for mainly Recon is going to be aiding us. I thanked God for the luck and began to fire at the slowly marching Army. We all stayed in a steady retreat and stayed in the same pace as them. At this distance the enemy had to rely on luck to hit us, but with so much lead flying a few guys gets lucky here and there.

After a few minutes we heard the familiar sound of an F-22 in the air. With the sheer size of the Army there is no need to mark targets, just point and shoot. The F-22 did a strafing run and completely demolished anything in its way. We though this one was over but fate had a strange sense of irony.

All of a sudden the F-22 banked left and barely missed what looked like an Anti-Air missile. A few moments later another one scored a direct hit. The pilot ejected and parachuted down, luckily he ejected over friendly territory so he could hike back to base.

I followed the trail of smoke it left and looked to my left. I could barely make out a figure dressed in black but i couldn't quite make out who it was. I knew one thing for shore, this fight was over. I ordered a full retreat and we all high tailed it out of there.

* * *

After reaching or FOB I ordered my men to go to the infirmary while I checked with the Admiral. I entered the base (After a change of clothes to my Multi-Camo BDU) and found Walker. After a Salute I began to tell him the situation.

"We also found this." I said handing him the documents we found. "However this one perked our interest." I said. I handed him the document with the seal on it.

"This is a..." He never finished.

"Yup, looks like we have some Krauts here." I said. The seal was a Swastika, you know, Nazis, Hitler, that kind of thing.

"What the hell is this doing here?" He asked.

"I don't know, but that explains our friend in black who had the Luger on him." I said.

"You mean Hayha?" Walker asked. "Whoever he is he's been a serious thorn in our side. He managed to take out our F-22." Walker said.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "How? Those things have stealth, it's impossible for a Radar guided missile to hit it." I said.

"But not a heat seeker. Whoever this guy is he possesses advanced technology, either on par with us or a few decades behind. This really troubles me." I nodded.

"He needs to be dealt with, I lost a good friend to him." I said. "Sir, requesting permission to leave the area." I said. He looked at me with a strange face.

"Why would I authorize this?" He asked.

"This man is a Sniper, he knows all the tricks and has all the gear. We both know I am the best Sniper here and I want to take him." I said with confidence.

"Ok, I'll get Sword and Shield ready..." I didn't let him finish.

"No." I said.

"What?" He asked.

"I will deal with him on my terms, I will go out there on my own and deal with this myself, Hathcock style." I beamed with confidence.

"If this was anyone else I would deny it." He said. "Fine." He sighed. "I will grant you your request. You have 1 week to get him, after that I'm pulling the plug on the OP." I nodded.

I went over to where the Armory was and began to look for the best tools for the job. Inside I saw Henrietta. I cleared my throat and got her attention.

"Sir. Riptide, how are you?" She asked with a radiant smile.

"Can't complain." I answered.

"It's amazing the variety your people have with so many muskets." She said.

"Well, each on has a purpose." I said. "This for example." I picked up an M40 Sniper Rifle. "This is a bolt action Sniper Rifle, good for targets outside of 1,000 Ms but not so good for mid or close range combat."

"Interesting." Henrietta said. "Are you preparing for a battle?" She asked.

"Something like that, Hayha, I'm going to find him and stop him." I said.

"I've heard he has been giving our forces some trouble, I wish you luck Sir Riptide." Even though she put up a smile I knew she was worried. The rest of the time was kind of an awkward back and forth on the tools I'll be using, she was worried for my safety but understood that as a soldier and a warrior I had to do my job. I paid very little attention to her, my mind was on 1 thing, the mission. You can't be distracted at all, you must not have anything but the job on your mind.

After some thought I picked out what I thought would be suited for a long Sniper duel. I picked out a McMillian TAC-338 Sniper Rifle with .338 Lapua Magnum rounds, or the 8.58×70MM. It's a massive round, slightly bigger than the 7.62X51MM and is designed entirely for long range. The longest confirmed kill was 2,475 M by a man named Craig Harrison, a Royal Marine, and he used this round to make that shot.

Next up was a Ghillie suit that I personally painted to fit the foliage of Albion. Because of this I couldn't have a plate carrier, I had to have all my equipment attached to my battle belt. I only took 3 Magazines, each with 5 rounds in them so I had 15 shots. I wanted to be as light as possible for this mission. Of course the Sniper wasn't the only weapon I took, I also got a suppressed Sig P226 in case I had to engage targets in close range. I only took a few MREs and a water Cantine because I needed to stay as light as possible. Lastly I had a knight vision scope tucked into my pouch just in case I needed to see in the dark.

After applying conventional face paint I was ready for a Sniper duel. A part of me was truly exited for the fight, as the old saying goes "There's no hunt better than the hunting of another man". Even now the nerves I feel is anticipation, the butterflies you would get before the big game. I'm not afraid, just restless, my mind and body prepared for one hell of a fight.

Luckily, Hayha liked to stay in 1 area. It was a large open grassland area with a forest to the east of the meadow. Towards the north, around where the capital is there was a massive hill that stretched miles across. He always managed to halt entire patrols from there. I had no doubt he would be on the hill and fighting an uphill battle is not exactly ideal. I would either need to lure him off or flank him.

My plan was to use the woods in the east as cover to flank the hill, the woods made sight almost impossible and allowed me move quickly. As the plan formed in my head I mentally prepared myself for the coming fight.

I finally left the Armory and got a horse to take me to the known position.

**End Chapter 18 **


	19. Chapter 19: In My Sights

**Chapter 19: In my Sights **

10 hours, 10 fucking hours I've been slowly making my way through this God forsaken forest. My legs are killing me and my back has cracked I don't know how many times. This is one of the things that makes Sniping unbearable for most people, the amount of patience you need is staggering. All I've been doing for the past 10 hours is walking at an extremely slow pace. I was going so slow that it could take me 10 minutes to cross a football field from goal post to goal post. This is because the thing that attracts the human eye the most is movement. The slower you move the harder it is get spotted by the enemy.

Luckily though since I am in a rather thick woodland area I was able to stay upright. Ghillie Suits have their flaws, the biggest one is that it stands out if you're not properly hidden. Standing up in a knee high grass field makes it easy for the enemy to find you. You have to make sure you are bellow the foliage. This is why I chose to go through the woods, more cover and I can move at a "Faster" pace.

Aside from the Burlap material on me I also have some leaves, twigs and other pieces of the environment that I took. A good Ghillie Suit is 40% Burlap and 60% Natural. Of course since the plants die withing hours I have to constantly replace them.

By now it was getting dark but I did not need to use my night scope just yet. The yellow rays of sunlight pierced through the dark forest, making just enough light to see.

I came across my first real obstacle, a massive rocky hill that got in my way. It stretched further than I can see but was about 2 stories high. It was a risk to climb it because it would leave me exposed but I had to chance it. Putting my Burlap covered Sniper on my back I slowly climbed up the small rocky hill. With the high contrast shadows being case in the twilight forest it made me be concealed enough to feel safe. As I reached the top I could see an open clearing in the forest. It was about 500M wide and I was a bit worried about crossing through the middle.

I got out my gun and looked through the sight and over at the other end of the clearing. Visibility was once again an issue so this time I took out my night sites. Just as I was about to attach it to my Rifle something hit the area next to me, causing me to jump and drop the sight.

In a fraction of a second I heard a loud bang and instantly lowered my head. I cursed my idiotic luck for dropping my damn night site but quickly let go of it, deciding to instead work with what I had.

Hayha has found me and he's in the best position right now, his cross hairs are pointed right at the spot I was so if I try to look up and shoot back I'd be dead before I could even aim.

In situations like this you have 2 options, either wait until you are sure the enemy has moved, which is unlikely since Snipers are very patient; or move position to an area that the Sniper can not see. I choose the latter option and began shimmying across the rocky hill. Since I knew where he was I didn't have to go so slow anymore.

After moving some distance I peaked my head slowly over the rock wall. Wasting no time i took aim and tried to find where he was. I subconsciously judged the difference in time between the impact of the bullet and the sound of the bang. As expected it put his distance in the 500M mark.

I scanned the tree line for anything that would give me a hint of his location. I stayed as low as possible to not make an outline of my head on the top of the rock but high enough to aim my rifle.

I saw a small dark human shaped shadow right next to the tree. It was so dark all I could make out was his outline and not much else. I flipped off the safety and slowly pulled the trigger. I noticed that the bullet impacted the tree and not him. I cursed myself as I saw the Shadow move back and away from the area. Wasting no time I climbed down the hill and went prone at the bottom. I spent the next hour doing nothing but scanning the tree line for anything.

After confirming he was not there I got to my feet and slowly walked around the clearing, being sure to stay in the trees. By now it got very dark, but thanks to the 2 full moons there was enough light to make out small details in the wilderness.

My sharp eyes detected movement to my right, once again on the other side of the clearing. The familiar sound of a bullet impacting near me and a loud bang made me duck down. I braced my elbow on my knee and too aim, using a small bush in front of me to help conceal my figure.

Again I saw a dark shadow sprinting from tree to tree and I was unable to line up a proper shot. It was now that I realized the differences in our Sniping styles. I preferred stealth and slow methodical movements, this guy preferred fast hit and run tactics. His advantage came from his speed and concealment in the forest. Masters of 2 styles going head to head, this fight will be decided with who takes the first best shot.

I decided to get on my hands and knees and slowly crawl from now on. The bushes concealed me enough to not be seen and it would be nearly impossible to spot me with his naked eye. Every so often I peaked my head between the bushes. I could still see the Shadow moving, he never stayed in one place for longer than a minute. I have to give him credit, to keep moving from spot to spot like that he must have incredible endurance.

As the sun began to rise after a 12 hour stand off the shadow disappeared and I could see no trace of his presence. I managed to crawl all the way around the field to where the shadow had been. I could confirm that he was no longer here but I did spot his footprints and broken twigs as he moved. I could follow them until I reached him.

I again began to crawl and follow the prints, checking to make sure I didn't set off any traps. I knew exactly what he was doing, all the footprints and broken twigs, he was leading me into a trap. Let's see if I can spot the trap before it is sprung.

After another few hours I found my first trap, a thin trip wire. I followed it and found it connected to a small stick which was holding a massive rock above my head. Getting out of the way I set off the trap manually. I was hoping he was near by to hear it and let his guard down in thinking I was dead. After all, if he could see me set it off I would have a bullet in my skull.

Continuing my pace I found more and more traps of similar natures. Many of them were simple in their design but damn effective. I reached the end of the trail, his footprints end at a tree and just disappear. I look up and notice many ropes in the trees, interesting, that's how he managed to be so elusive. He could use the trees as an effective means of escape and the ropes were high enough that unless you were looking up you wouldn't see them.

My second night on this mission and I was starving. I took out an MRE and ate it very slowly. I also needed to piss real bad. Unfortunately getting up and peeing behind a bush was rather easy to see so I had no choice but to piss my pants. I hope I don't have to take a crap, otherwise I'd have no choice but to go in my BDU. At the distances of a Sniper duel I wasn't worried about the smell attracting anything but I still tried to stay down wind from where I thought Hayha would be.

As the sun rose for the 3RD time on this mission I made it to the edge of the forest where the massive hill was. After 3 days of slow moving I needed to sleep. I found a very concealed spot and fell asleep. I woke up and hour later and once again relieved my bladder. It was disgusting but it's better to be uncomfortable than dead.

I didn't want to risk moving into the field during the day so I waited for night before making my move. It was now my 3RD night and my muscles were beginning to cramp up. I began my low crawl and slowly made my way up the hill. The grass was waste high so I didn't have to get too low but I had to move at half the speed as normal.

Despite what you see in movies and games, you can't simply move through grass or bushes. Even the slightest movement shifts the grass and alerts enemies to your position. I also tried to move with the wind so that the movement of the grass I created looked the same as the wind.

I reached the top of the hill and slowly went prone and looked down the hill into the meadow. I stayed as still as possible but observed everything I could see.

The sun once again rose and I had a great advantage over my enemy. Occasionally the rustling of the grass got my attention but I didn't want to shoot blindly or risk being spotted.

After hours of waiting I finally found Hayha, and it was clear that he found me. I did a quick calculation and deduced that we were 3 miles from each other. The 10Xs scope I had wasn't capable of seeing any detail of him but from his human like figure I knew it was him. His gun was pointed at me as well but at this distance neither of us even attempted to fire. The record was over 2 and a half miles after multiple shots and I didn't want to waste ammo and scare him into changing positions.

For hours we both stared at each other, neither of us willing to make the first move. As if by some dramatic act of God storm clouds began to move in. Once again night descended but with the storm clouds above us visibility was almost non-existent. Rain began to fall and in less than an hour it was poring rain. Every few seconds there was a flash of lighting that lit up the area for a moment, just enough to keep our eyes on each other.

I played the possible scenarios in my head and planned what would happen this night. I had the advantage in range, if he gets within a mile and a half of me he's dead. He needs to get within 1,000M in order to hit me. I could tell he was thinking the same, don't ask me how but I knew that we both knew how this was going to play out. I would stay in this position while he charges at me, using the moments of pure darkness between the lighting flashes to conceal his movement. Once he was in close enough range he would pull the trigger and end it. The entire time I would remain still and try to pick him off before he got too close.

That's what it came down too, whether I could take him out when he gets in range or whether he would get close enough to take me out. It's like 2 Samurai masters facing each other, the one with the better speed and reaction would win.

As another flash of lightning hit he was gone, running as low as possible to use the waste high grass to keep him concealed. The wind blew the grass around like crazy making it difficult to track his movements. Difficult but with my trained eyes I managed to follow him. He began to approach my position in surprising speed, my crosshairs following him as best they could between the pure darkness and bright flashes of lightning. He moved in an unpredictable zig-zag pattern, making it difficult to properly aim.

Finally he was in my killing zone but I couldn't possibly hit him. I decided to wait for him to rach his kill zone and hit him as he stops to aim. This would be tough and take every bit of skill and experience I have to pull this off.

Shit... I lost him. In the confusion I lost his movements. If I didn't find him soon I would be dead. Casting out any doubt in my mind I scanned the area as best I could, trying to find him before he got into a stable firing position.

The next second happened so fast that instinct took over. As a flash of lighting shot through the sky I saw a glint in the grass. Without thinking I put the Crosshairs on the glint and fired. The bang of my rifle matched perfectly with the bang of the thunder and it completely drowned out the sound.

* * *

The morning sun rose to a misty and muddy landscape. The fog was so thick that it was difficult to see very far. I wasn't sure if I managed to hit him last night so I waited until the morning light to allow better visibility. I stood up and walked down the hill to where I saw the glint. As i reached the sight I found something surprising.

My assumption was correct, Hayha, dressed in a black Military German like BDU laid in a puddle of his own blood. The scope on his rifle was destroyed, the bullet deflected off to the left and buried itself in his brain. Granted it wasn't a direct hit through the scope but an impressive shot none the less. His finger was on the trigger, ready to fire. For his scope to glint like that both of our scopes had to be looking right at each other. We both had each other in our sights but I was the one who made the first move.

I searched his body for any intelligence and all I found was a letter written in Halkeginian. I also found a Swastika necklace proving his Nazi origin. What this means I dread to guess but I knew something strange was going on.

I radioed command to send an evac and to collect the body, I kept the Swastika as a trophy.

* * *

The wounded DEVGRU and SAS Commandos stood next to a coffin, containing the body of Trident. Him, like so many others were going home today. I wore my dress blues and stood with my arms to my side and chest puffed out in true Military fashion.

I liked the old man, he was a strong and dependable person. I could see his team taking it pretty hard, some even shedding a tear here and there. We all took our Trident pins and stuck them onto the coffin, a sign of respect to this great man.

Others fired 3 blanks from an M14 and many of us held our heads down in silence. With nothing to distract me my emotions came up in full blast. I've never cried in my life and I don't plan to now. I kept a strong facade and held my head high.

We all gave a salute as we watched the coffin get taken into the plane along with many others, their next destination was home.

The rest of DEVGRU was getting routed home due to injuries and Sword and Shield were being assigned to other jobs in the war effort. I was on temporary leave until I was assigned to a new team. I would be spending much of my time in the town until I was assigned but I decided I could use the rest.

Giving one final salute the cargo doors closed and that great man was now gone.

* * *

"That was a hell of a stunt you pulled Riptide." Walker said. "I didn't think we would be able to get him for a while." I nodded.

"Easy day sir." I said but I was still kind of shaken from the funeral.

"The intelligence you brought us has been helpful, we managed to find a good lead on our Dboys and are sending the Rangers to rescue them. Without Hayha in the way we will have little trouble." He said.

"Did you find out who he was?" I asked.

"Unfortunately no, that letter you got is coded and we have teams of intelligence units trying to decode the letter." He said.

"Do we know how the Nazis are involved?" I asked.

"No, that was quite honestly a massive surprise. At first we thought it was some kind of cult that developed from possible Nazi visitors but the technology Hayha used was too advanced to be simple copies. Whoever these guys are they have technology more advanced than our own" Walker said.

"How can they be more advanced? The Nazis were a World War 2 political party, though it was impressive at the time there is no way it could be more advanced." I argued.

"Hayha used a surface to air missile to take out an F-22. We recovered it but the design is a decade ahead of us. How they got it is beyond us but the fact is we are dealing with something extremely dangerous." Walker reasoned.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"We continue with the war and pray that things go right." Walker said. "Get some rest, you earned it after your last mission." I walked off and went to the nearest bar to get hammered. Needless to say I made a complete fool of myself after getting so drunk.

**End Chapter 19 **

Bet you guys did Nazi that plot twist haha. Sorry, terrible joke.


	20. Chapter 20: Beginning of the End

I have to warn you guys, this is where the story is going to completely deviate from the show/book. From now on it will follow little, to almost no parts of the show. After all, with something as big as Earths involvement you can't expect events to continue as they are, right? I'm not the best writer but even I know that. So from here on out everything will change.

**Chapter 20: Beginning of the End of Albion**

"We must listen to Romalia or else we will risk a new war." One of Henrietta's top Generals said.

"We can not, without aid from these Commoners we would lose this war, especially with Albion's new Musket divisions." Henrietta countered. The war has been goin of for a while now an apparently word has finally reached the main powers in Halkeginia of this new Commoner Nation interfering in the events of the world. Walker and I sat as 2 of the main representatives of the UN, as well as other Military leaders from the UK and Canada. We sat in a large villa that acted as the home of the Generals and leaders of this Invasion. Across from us was a representative of Romania who delivered the news.

Apparently, Romalia does not like the idea of Commoners messing with the system of power in Halkeginia and threaten to go to war if Tristain and Germania not only continue aiding us but also give us Albion as per the agreement.

"She is correct." I said respectfully. "We bring the bigger guns and we have more forces coming in. It would be wise to avoid provoking us into a fight." I said directly to the Romanian Representative.

"You will speak when spoken too Commoners." He sneered and it was really beginning to piss me off. I let him win this one because as of right now we were trying to avoid diplomatic incidents. "These Commoners are a stain on our very foundation and must be brought to heel." I really wish weapons were allowed to these meetings.

"We have clearly demonstrated our Military might with only a hand full of soldiers. The UK alone has over 200,000 active soldiers ready for war and our combined forces of the UN can reach numbers in the tens, possibly hundreds of millions if we factor in Non-NATO allies." Said Colonel Enfield, the Leader of the Royal Marines in this operation.

"And the US, being the largest NATO Army has over 1.5 million Active soldiers." Walker said. I knew what they were doing, after all we couldn't realistically send that many troops with other conflicts going on but we could exaggerate.

"And we have our Noble status over you." The ass hole said.

"That means very little, we have proven that a few dozen soldiers can kill thousands of yours. So far the only trouble we have had are the Albion Muskets and it is clear none of you have something like that." Walker continued.

I looked over to Henrietta and I could see she clearly had some trouble with this. She debated with herself whether she should continue or withdraw her forces because of threats from Albion, unfortunately, as her eyes shined with confirmation of her choice I knew exactly what she would do.

"Without their force we would be no match for Albion." Henrietta reasoned.

"Withdraw your forces and you will be under the Protection of the Pope." The Rep said. Henrietta thought long and hard on the decision. She would be able to ensure the safety of Tristain at the cost of her allies. He choice was one only a child of peace could make.

"We must withdraw all forces from Albion." Henrietta said.

"What?!" Almost at the same time a majority of us screamed at the betrayal. "We aided you through all of this..." I began. "We got into this war to aid you and you all turn away from us just like that?" I was becoming enraged. With Tristain and Germania out of the war and won't allow us back into their borders our entire Army would be completely over run and destroyed. The odds would literally be 1,000 to 1 and even we can't fight that.

"I apologize Captain but we have no choice, Honor demands..." I cut her off.

"Screw your honor, a bunch of selfish Bigots who care for nothing other than themselves." I said as my rage got the better of me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Walkers eyes borrow into me. I don't know why I became so enraged, but I knew better than to be compromised like that. I took a breath and resumed a silent stature.

"How dare you say such a thing Commoner!" The rep yelled. "Your "Military Might" as you put it is nothing more than a fabrication you have created. Tales of other worlds and numbers that far exceed what you have shown. You are nothing more than a small band of Rebel that have found weapons from the Elves. You possess no magic and you have no dominance here. We should have you all executed for the crimes of disobeying Nobles."

"We are stronger than you could possibly believe." I said. He scoffed and moved on.

"And how does Germania fair." Take a wild guess what they said. "So we are in agreement." The representative said. "You and your Commoner Army are free to stay but you are no longer welcomed in our Borders." He said. It was a death sentence and he knew it. Albion would launch a full counter attack and with no way to retreat all forces we would be wiped out.

"You will regret this mistake." Walker said in a very low and menacing voice. It's times like this I was reminded why he was such a great leader. He inspires invincible courage and astounding Charisma but at the same time he invokes the fear of God into you. He's a great and fair man but even the Devil himself would turn tail if this man so much as glared at you.

As we left the meeting I saw Henrietta fight back a tear as I walked away. We were fucked and we knew it, there is no way we can evacuate all those men with the limited resources at our disposal. We were done for.

* * *

"You must understand Captain, we have no choice. To be forsaken by Romalia is the worst thing that could happen, Tristain would have no protection and we would be invaded from all sides." Henrietta tried to argue.

"So you would leave me and my kind to death?" I retorted angrily.

"What would you suggest I do?" She asked desperately.

"Continue aiding us, I promise you we are stronger than you would think. We can protect you from the other countries if you would just aid us. Believe me, we never forget those who aids us." I reasoned. Henrietta turned her head, unable to look at me.

"I am truly sorry." She turned and left.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean you're pulling out!?" I yelled at one of the Nobles in charge of the Knight division.

"Because Germania is no longer apart of this conflict and we are leaving, simple as that." He said with a smug smile. "Don't look to bad, now you can show the world just how strong a Commoner Army is." He laughed as he ordered his troops to leave the battle.

The battle we were currently in would be remembered by history as the "Battle of the red villa". The reason is because it is a big Villa owned by some Albion aristocrat who helped fund the war and was also keeping the 2 Delta soldiers as hostages. It was a large Villa with a small town, about as big as 2 football fields, and a massive wall surrounding it. We were forced into a siege scenario and had to attack. Germania provided the newest and state of the art (For them anyway) Siege Cannons that would blow down the wall. Currently we had over 10,000 troops, 1,000 of them being NATO forces and a new batch of freshly deployed Rangers. 100 Rangers to be exact.

Unfortunately, since now that they are pulling out we are out-manned and have no way of fighting back. All we had were foot soldiers, Tristain and Germania made up the bulk of transport and artillery. As they pulled out we saw the Villa prepare for a counter attack, one that we have no way of defending.

"Sgt. I think you'll want to see this!" Alex yelled over to me. I ran over and saw a single Albion rider coming over. I ordered my men to let him through.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. All of my men gathered around.

"I am here to deliver a message to the commanding officer here." He said.

"That would be us for the moment." I said. I motioned to my right and left, On my left was Warrant Officer Desaley of the Canadian Army and on my right was Warrant Officer Class 2 Joshua of the Royal Marines. We were the commanding officers of this battle.

"You're allies have turned from you, you are few against many and you lack the ability to fight us. Surrender and we will spare your lives." He said, knowing we would surrender. To his surprise we began laughing.

"We're out-manned and outgunned right?" Desaley asked through the chuckles.

"I know, those poor bastards" I finished referring to Albion.

"You truly have gone insane. So be it, you will have tomorrow morning to make you choice, if not we will kill every one of you." And he was off, but not before Alex picked up a wad of mud and threw it at his head. The Noble fell down and we all laughed at his expense. It might get us killed but at least it boosted moral.

As the sun began to set we got in our command tents and began to make plans on how to proceed.

"We can't retreat, we have no horses and no way to transport men. We would get cut down by their riders." Joshua said. It was true. Like I said we were foot soldiers and had no vehicles. NATO never sent in Humvee's or anything so retreat would be impossible.

"We could use the cover of darkness and slip out un-noticed." Desaley suggested, a good plan.

"We're forgetting why we're here, we have men in those walls and we must rescue them." I said with conviction.

"It's too well defended, how do you expect us to get in?" Joshua asked. I began to point to the map and formulated my plan.

"We will use the cover of darkness and do a direct assault on the main wall, this will concentrate their forces allowing a small team to infiltrate from the back and rescue the team. With our night optics we will have the advantage in the dark." I said.

"And come morning when we're wiped out by a counter attack?" Desaley said.

"We will set up mines and other explosives to deter them from pursuing. The forest line is 5 miles south of here, if we reach there we can escape. There is no way they would follow us in, with our camo and superior tactics we can evade and escape them if they pursue." They began to agree.

"Sounds like a good plan, I'll begin setting the explosives." Desaley said. "You will infiltrate the enemy compound while we launch the attack." With our plans set we got to work.

Since Rangers were technically SOF capable I got my top 5 best men and left Alex in charge. We moved around to the back of the Villa and waited for the battle to start. After some time we heard the sounds of guns going off and slowly moved into position. Using some makeshift grappling hooks we scaled the wall with ease. When we reached the top we picked off a few guards with suppressed pistols.

We quickly dumped their bodies over the side and moved to the Villa itself. We all had either suppressed M4s or Mp7s. Although the suppressors were still loud it would prevent guys in the village to here us. Getting next to the door we prepared for an all out assault.

"Breaching, Breaching!" I yelled as I busted down the door and let my squad move in. I raised my M4 and shot a few unsuspecting guards while avoiding hitting any servants.

"Get down!" I heard one of my men yell as he threw a Servant to the ground so we don't hit a civilian.

"Upstairs!" I yelled as Musket men aimed at us from the upstairs but were quickly dealt with. I moved over and grabbed a guard who was still barely alive. "Where is the prison located!" I yelled. He pointed to a door to the right that led to the basement.

The door was locked but a shape charge blew it out and also dismembered a few guards who used their bodies to block the door. A few of their friends dropped their weapons weapons and surrendered.

"Please, don't..." He stammered as I hit him with the butt of my gun, knocking him out.

We ran down stairs and finished anyone in our way. We were operating on instinct, the betrayal of our "allies" made a stunning realization, we were done for. Even when we regroup with HQ there is nothing we can do, all we could do was go down swinging. I refuse to die with bullets still in my gun.

"My God." I stopped as I saw the carnage. The Delta soldiers were sitting in chairs in the middle of the room. They were dead with severe signs of torture. If anyone knows what medieval torture was like they would know what happened, I simply can't describe it. Shaking my head of these thoughts I thought of only 1 thing. They go home.

I ordered my men to pick them up and we retreated. We met little resistance and most of the guards and soldiers were fighting the main force so ex-filtration was easy. I knew we would make these fuckers pay.

* * *

"What do we do now?" I asked Walker. "There's no way we can win this thing, we're dead." Walker just smiled at me.

"You know me kid, did you really think that I didn't have a plan?" He said. "I knew this was going to happen eventually, which is why I made a few calls." I looked at him with curiosity.

He picked up a phone that was linked to the satellite and sent a message back home.

"Begin Operation Benedict." He said and hung up the phone.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Before we made signed the treaty with Tristain I had a plan moved in motion. Basically using National funds I created an Army over over 1 million troops from NATO countries and hundreds of vehicles and aircraft. They will begin arriving and within a week we will have over 100,000 soldiers. I've also got in touch with some Private Military Companies who would also aid us." Not many people know this, but for the last decade Mercenaries have been an integral part in many of our wars. They help fill certain jobs and not all of them combat oriented.

"So we will have an actual Military presence here?" I asked.

"Of course, and with no "Honor" restrictions we will be free to fight as a strong Military should." I nodded and we began to process to bring in more troops.

* * *

After about a day of fighting our forces were pushed back to the southern port of Albion, the point were finally the last Tristain ship was now departed and in the distance, the Queen safely aboard. Albion had us surrounded, with the open air at our backs and 1 million Albion soldiers in front we had no where to go. Our forces have been depleted to less than a few thousand men. The first of our reinforcements will be arriving within soon, in about 5 hours but we fear that the counter attack Albion is making will wipe us out before then. Since this was essentially a last stand anyone who could hold a gun was put into action, myself included.

I was chosen to be one of the first evacuated to safety but I refused. Like I said, I prefer to be in the trenches than a nice office. The first line of defense is a series of mines and explosive traps on the perimeter of the port. At the edge of the mine field were 3 lines of barbed wires but with the explosive magic of the Nobles they won't last long. The second are lines of freshly dug trenches to provide cover. Behind that was a series of walls and sandbags to provide more cover. Lastly is the port, it is where the makeshift medic stations are and ammo depots. The few tanks we have will act as artillery but the problem is they are limited. Too many men and not enough shells. They will eventually be over run.

In 5 hours dozens, maybe even 100 Gunships and over 10,000 paratroopers will be joining the fight. The Gun ships will be invincible and can completely cut down the enemy forces. This is where we demonstrate the full might of Earth, no more limitations of numbers or tactics, no more limitations in resources, the full might of the Western World will bear down on this small little world and we will prove that we are more than what they believe us to be.

I was armed with an M110 to act as a Designated Marksman, to make the shots that most riflemen can't. SAW gunners and Heavy Machine gunners would lay down a high volume of fire when they entered the minefield while Designated Marksman and Snipers would aim accurately and efficiently at any officers to throw the enemy into disarray. Riflemen armed with G36's and M16/4's would add to the volume when they reach the effective engagement zone. Most troops were armed with Shotguns for when they managed to get close.

The Tanks would act as heavy hitters, breaking the front lines and those damned steel walls to give a good opening for our fire. Even a few holes can give us the advantage. Their tight phalanx like positions make them prime targets, again though the problem is that there are way more men than Tank shells.

Despite being severely out numbered we have the moral advantage. We have no way of retreating so we will fight to the death, we have no choice but to fight to the death. If we surrender we would be executed anyway for being Commoners.

Although a majority of the enemy is Commoners they fear their Mage masters more than us, they are in a similar position where they can't retreat. The Nobles have their honor and in their society they welcome death if it means preserving honor. This fight might really go down to who's the last man standing. Of course though we've already won, with our allies on the way we will win for sure. Only problem is, will we be alive long enough to hear jet engines in the sky.

I was placed far back, at the third line of defense to be safe for as long as possible, after all I needed to stay back since I was a Sniper.

As the sun began to rise the enemy began their attack, hundreds of thousands of troops pouring onto our small 10,000. The enemy marched into the edge of no mans land before the order was given by Walker himself. As the troops began to set of the mines Walker ordered everyone to open fire. Do to the limitations of ammo only kill shots were allowed.

The Tanks began to obliterate the front lines as SAW's and Heavy guns began to decimate the front lines. At this distance it was hard to see the gruesome scene that was going on and almost impossible to make out anything big, at least with the naked eye.

Looking through my scope I got a better look at the complete devastation, every so often a body would be reduced to a pile of bloody mush from either a tank or .50 cal rounds hitting them. Some where completely disoriented and in pain from being far enough from the explosions to not be instantly killed. Other men vanished in a plume of smoke from the mines they stepped on.

I searched the area for any generals or leaders to take a shot at. They were easy to spot, hanging back and atop high mounted horses and very nice and decorated clothing. After some minor calculations he fell off his horse, a new hole in his chest.

I picked off another officer and he fell as well. Realizing their officers are getting hit left and right the officers took cover behind what ever they could. Most peeked their heads out and within seconds had them explode from a supersonic round.

Switching my gaze off of the generals I began to find and pick off any Mage's who tried to blow through the barbed wire. All we could do was slow them down but they will eventually get through.

After a few massive explosions yelling was heard and they began to charge to our second defense, the trenches. When they got close most men opted for their shotguns and blew away the enemy with buckshot shells. The tanks by this time ran out of ammo and were only effective as Machine guns.

I turned my gave upward and picked off some more officers who peaked their heads over their cover. In all this fighting we only managed to take out a fraction of the enemy forces and they were charging quick. Most of our men in the trenches began to retreat to a better position to use their weapons but Albion soldier began to pick them off. Our CQC was severely limited against their lances, swords and shields. We didn't have anything that was effective once they close the gap.

The reached the 3RD line of defense and it proved to be more difficult to breach. The high walls gave us the height advantage and made it almost impossible to even get close to the walls. Most soldiers took cover in the trenches or over large piles of dead comrades to stay away from our line of sight. The firing died down and it became a stalemate, the occasional bang of a Sniper hitting a head that peaked too high over the cover.

Amazingly, after all that it was just their first wave of soldiers. This stalemate won't last forever, once the second wave enters we're screwed. The sounds of horns filled the air and many thousands more began to march into battle. There is literally nothing we can do, aid is still an hour away and we'll be dead by then.

Amazingly, as they made it to the trenches a dark shadow hovered over our heads. Scratch that, several dark shadows. Dozens of Tristain ships hovered over us and began to fire a broadside of cannon balls at the enemy, decimating their forces. Enemy Cannon teams fired back so we were ordered to stop them. All Designated Marksman trained their sights on the enemy cannon teams and began taking them out. I started with the man holding the burning rope, he would be unable to light it, than moved on to the re-loaders.

I repeated this again and again while a few SAW gunners laid down suppressive fire to hinder their ability to fight properly. The troops that were held down launched another attack to stop our shooting, soon poorly made bullets began to hit us from the direct front. Their concentrated volley lines destroyed and turned into each man just fighting to survive. The fight became one sided because of the superior weapons and training of NATO and soon the entire first wave was now gone.

Finally, after hours of fighting everyone stopped because of strange noises off in the distance. I turned my head and my suspicions were confirmed. A black cloud descended onto the battlefield, and soon enough lightning rained from the sky...

Ok, really it was the Gunships that began raining down large shells and large Vulcan mini-guns which began to obliterate the Albion forces. They were careful to avoid friendly casualties and were also ordered to avoid the Tristain ships that provided a last ditch aid.

Albion began to retreat after half of their force was wiped out and paratroopers began to descend, chasing away any type of resistance. The imperial monarchy of Albion is now over, in it's place a democratic republic will rise, a society similar to Western Nations and will become the new home of many Earthly Nations.

* * *

Queen Henrietta looked in awe as they massive dragons rained thunder down on Albion. Had she not seen it for herself she never would have believed that there could be so many dragons in the sky. Men attached to strips of cloth fell from the dragon, almost like leaves descending to a war torn land.

"My God." The Representative of Romalia said. "I had no idea they had such power." His voice trembled in fear. Henrietta looked in fear as well, to them it was if the gods have descended and showing their wrath to the world.

Henrietta at first believed the changes would be very minor, but as she saw the destruction of Albion soldiers she knew that the very fabric of Halkeginia will forever change.

**End Chapter 20 **

Well, the hammer has come down and everything will now change.


	21. Chapter 21: Year of Change

**Chapter 21: Year of Change **

Stretching my back I began to make my way out of the plane that transported me back to Halkeginia. Me, along with several other Military and men of other various scientific fields went through the gate. It was a newly constructed airport that is now the main way of transport between our 2 worlds.

After the battle I was rotated home and got some off time. After about a month I was aloud to tryout for Green team, the training program to become a DEVGRU Member and after months of even harder training i managed to pass. I was than rotated back into service for some assignments back in Halkeginia.

It's amazing how much progress has happened in the year of fighting. Within a few days Albion surrendered unconditionally to NATO. Using a few shock and awe tactics as well as superior firepower any battle was suicide for Albion.

With Albion's surrender came a great change in the Albion government. Many thought that NATO would simply take control and force the people into a new regime but this was not the case. Taking many of the countries politicians and scholars they formed a new government based on the ideals of the Western World, a government chosen for the people, by the people and of the people.

Albion due to its small size was divided into 10 newly formed Provence's, each one responsible for their own laws and taxation's. The small floating country of Albion was renamed the "United Republic of Albion", or the URA. Did I mention a US politician named it? Than again, every body in our world goes nuts for names like that, the US, UN, UK etc so no big shock there.

With it was a newly formed constitution, made to model the US constitution almost exactly. Civilians were allowed the freedom of speech and Religion as well as the right to bear arms to protect themselves from invasion or a tyrannical government. They were only allowed to have the guns of the newly formed Albion Army and not any Earth guns like Assault Rifles or anything too overpowered.

The Education system also modeled ours, all public schools would get their funding from Taxation's and is free, even required for everyone to go too. The Caste system was eliminated so anyone could get the same education and live how they choose.

The Albion Army has also been greatly changed. Part of the constitution was that Albion is not allowed to have a strong Military and not allowed to act in a hostile force against other Nations without approval from the UN, much like how Japan is only allowed to have a Self-defense force and is not allowed to go to war without approval.

The Albion Military is very unique, they have been limited to 200,000 Active soldiers with around 100,000 reserves. The average Albion soldier now uses a camo type BDU, a belt to hold their ammo and a Steel helmet. They kind of look like WW2 soldiers in camo, with some notable differences. Since they would now be using guns and newer tactics heavy armor would get in the way and since NATO isn't too keen on giving them armor capable of actually stopping bullets they decided against it.

The Average soldier is armed with a bolt or level action long rifle, modeled after old Earth weapons, with a mounted Calvary unit using pump action shotguns. Others included K-bar knives, machetes and a spade for digging trenches and fox holes. It was a welcome change to what they used to have.

The Albion government is also allowed to use their own funding in an R&D (Research and Development) department to improve their weapons independent from NATO. They are allowed to make any kind of development they want with no restrictions, as long as they do not try to steal NATO plans.

They are going through their own industrial revolution, being given the idea of assembly lines, newer materials and even advancements in Sciences and Medicine.

Religion is kind of a touchy subject, they did not like the idea of separation of Church and State so to preserve ties with Albion the local churches have been given important roles in the affairs of the people, well, mostly as a moral thing. It's much like what would happen in Feudal Europe and Japan, where even though the power of the Church had been weakened it was still around for the moral support of the people. As a Christian myself I am happy with this because I believe that Religion is a very important part of society. After all, it's not Religion that causes problems it's ideologies that cause it. Hell, want to know what caused WW2? The biggest war in our history? An argument on how many telegraph poles Germany owed its war department creditors. Religion or not people will always fight and kill, but I'm rambling.

Transport between Earth and Albion actually has gotten easier as well. The reason Halkeginia is basically a dump of other worldly stuff is because of the wind crystals. They have dimensional warping properties. What's interesting is that Albion isn't even floating, it actually partly exists in another dimension and since it is tied with it, it remains here enough to be material but over there enough to stay weightless here, where ever "there" is anyway. Through some clever manipulations they have made devices that can transport people at low speeds, now at 10 MPH. Only problem is the thing weighs 5 tons so you can't just pick it up and run. You also can not use it for ground based vehicles because with the height of Albion you would appear in Earth a couple thousand feet in the air, not very good for land vehicles.

These days though a majority of people are journalists, scientists, Politicians and Military personnel. Some of the richer class can get passes for tourism but they say it will take another year for tourism and even longer for possible immigration rights.

During the whole year the other Nations of Halkeginia have been very quite, except for Tristain. No doubt they are afraid of our Military might and do not want to fight us, despite massive uproars from Nobles about "Saving Albion from the Commoner disease". Henrietta managed to forge a new alliance with the URA, since her protection of NATO troops at the battle earned her a good reputation in NATO, despite her original breaking of the treaty and with drawing all forces. However at the moment it is nothing more than a neutral alliance until further diplomatic action can be taken.

Many Albion Nobles resisted the change to a free society and most have actually been imprisoned for acts of terrorism and violence. Without the constant tax money going to them simply for Noble status many have actually gone broke and poor. Very few Nobles however actually somewhat liked the change, I would later find out that Mr. Colbert has actually come to Albion many times to study the new sciences of the world.

I arrived at the main base of NATO forces, a massive complex that had dozens of large building surrounding 1 massive one. The massive building in the center housed all our intelligence and sensitive information. The whole thing is run by the CIA who have been doing a lot of information gathering, spying and other such things to make sure we always stay 1 step ahead of everyone else in the information department.

I met up with the newly promoted Vice Admiral Walker in his new office, it was a simple place, his college masters degree on the wall, a few photos of his wife and 3 kids and various awards and medals that he acquired over his long Military service.

"Sir." I saluted my superior officer.

"Good to see you again Riptide, how have you been lately?" He asked.

"Pretty good." I said and took a seat on a very comfy leather seat. "How's things been treating you, I understand you are now the leader of this whole operation?" I asked.

"It's been absolute hell, I'm pressured by Washington to find our Nazi guests, Romalia has been making threats and demanding we release Albion from our "Tyranny" and to top it all off many Eastern countries, especially China and Russia have been demanding we give them rights to territories here, I'm getting too old for this." He rubbed his eyes.

"Wishing you were in the trenches again?" I asked.

"Not really, I might not like it but someone has to step up to the plate. After all, can't let some Harvard politician have control of this place." He laughed.

"Didn't you graduate from Harvard and try to become a politician?" I asked looking at his Masters Degree.

"Exactly, so I know how stuck up and incompetent most of them are, the Navy sure as hell made me a better man." I smiled slightly, a warm kind of smile that speaks volumes of his many years of service and experience.

"Anyway, why was I called back here? I was having a good vacation." I said.

"Like I said, Washington is pressing for us to learn more about these Nazis and we're finally able to begin operations. Between setting up spy networks, managing a new Nation and threats from here and Earth we've had too much on our plate, so I am setting up a new Task Force to learn more about these guys." A Task Force is a single unit that is formed of many soldiers and even joint efforts with other SOF units with a single purpose in mind. Say there's a new terrorist that needs a lesson in bullet ballistics, a Task Force would be formed for the sole job of taking him out.

"Who are we working with?" I asked.

"It will be a Joint Operation between the CIA, DEVGRU, SAS and Spetsnaz." He said.

"Sure we can trust the red army?" I asked.

"Not really, even with the end of the Cold War relations with the Russians have been rocky but they are willing to provide us with Assets and a few men, turns out there is some Russian blood boiling for a chance to live the glory days of their genocidal grandfathers." Over the course of World War 2 the USSR took over 90,000 German POWs, by the end only 10,000 POWs were left alive. Hell, The Soviets never even took prisoners, they executed most men making them one of the biggest violators of war in the 20TH century.

"Who will I be working with?" I asked.

"You will comprise a 3 man Recon team, your job will be mainly Recon and even aid assault teams. Aside from you, Shield will be returning to aid you." I smiled at that.

"Good to here, what about his brother?" I asked.

"Sword has since retired from the SAS 3 months ago. Your Russia ally will Chief Petty Officer Zaytsev, an expert in land navigation and Recon." He said.

"Zaytsev?" I asked.

"Yea, that's his Call sign and he said he picked it to pay tribute to his ancestor." Walker said.

"He's related too Vasily?" I asked.

"From what I've heard, he is one of the top ranking in his field and an excellent soldier, there is no question there."

"Sounds good, do we have any Intel on the Nazis yet?" I asked.

"Not much yet, the others have been briefed but we managed to find many possibles, seems these guys have influence in just about ever Nation in Halkeginia, our spy networks have many leads and possible areas of pursuit. Our Germania CIA division requests a strike team for now to capture a Germanian Noble by the name of Count Adalbert. Apparently he's been doing a lot of suspicious activities and we've confirmed the presence of modern firearms in his Villa. Meet up with the CIA contacts and then you will form a plan from there." I nodded.

"Sound good." I said.

"There is one more very important thing." Walker said with a serious tone.

"What is that sir?" I asked.

"This mission will be top secret, if any Halkeginian Nations learn of your existence it could spark an international incident, we are technically invading their land and assaulting their people."

"I figured as much, but I think the guns and Camo would probably give us away." I mentioned pointing to all around us.

"We have a cover story for that, a few rogue criminals managed to go through the gate and are causing some problems, that's how we've been getting away with most of our operations lately." It made sense, after all criminals are criminals and since our forces are not allowed in anyone's borders we can't send in any "Law Enforcement to take care of the "Criminals"... hint... hint.

"I'm used to this by now, let me guess. If captured you will deny any involvement and possibly even give me a suicide pill, how am I so far?" I asked sarcastically.

"Pretty good, though suicide pills are out of the question for now." He laughed.

"For now? Well, that's better I suppose."

"Dismissed Captain." I stood up, saluted and took my leave.

After walking out I saw my good friend Rob heading in the opposite direction, I called him over and he waved at me. He walked over and we shook hands after not seeing each other in weeks.

"How's it been buddy?" I asked him with a warm smile.

"Not to bad, the whole year has been beyond boring, I heard we'll be working together soon." He said.

"Really? News to me." I said.

"Yea, we'll act as the strike force to aid you in the raids and attacks throughout your missions, Walker didn't tell you?" I shook my head. It made sense, the 75TH Rangers were Special Operations capable, I have worked with them many times before.

"Well, that's good to hear, wouldn't have anyone else watching my six." I hit his shoulder lightly.

"Only problem is that I had to miss this years Anime convention, seriously I haven't managed to go to one of those in a while because of my deployments." I shook my head.

"Anime is really stupid, everything about it has to do with magic and other annoying crap." I said with narrowed eyes.

"We're standing in a different dimension that uses magic on a daily basis and you're saying Anime makes no sense?" I shrugged.

"Changing the topic, I'm heading out, I'll see you when things get dicey." I saluted my oldest friend and continued walking to the plane that would escort us into the Germanian town of Braunau. There I met up with Shield.

"Good to see you Brit." I saluted the SAS spotter.

"You too Yank, heard you finally joined the big boys club." He laughed.

"You SAS lot must not be too good if a lowly Tier 2 operative beat a bad ass British Commando the first time we met." I playfully insulted my comrade.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Yank, but who was it that told you how to save your friends in Albion?" He continued.

"I would have found a way eventually, us SEALs are resourceful like that." Changing my tone I got serious again. "So how do you feel about working with Ivan?" I refereed to our new Russian team mate.

"I don't have much of a problem with Russia, after all they do have a particular hatred for the old Reich, A lot of reds soldiers looking for some German blood." He said.

"What do you think is going on? I mean they can't have a massive Army or anything, you can't hide an Army from people of Halkeginia." I guessed.

"My guess is they could either be hiding or working in small sizes, after all they manipulated Albion, perhaps they have influences in other Nations as well." I could somewhat agree with that.

"In that case, I'd say the best bet is Romalia, even though Germania has the largest and strongest Military Romalia is the center of the Religion and the heart of the people. If I wanted to control people I would go after the organization with the most political power." It seemed logical to me.

"I'd have to agree Yank, is it me though, or does it seem kind of odd that our first place to look would be Germania?" Yea, I saw the irony too.

"It's got the largest Military, is the closest to Albion and fits the bill of a Nazi nostalgia thing, it makes sense that it would be the first place we go." I retorted. "How's your brother by the way? I heard he retired."

"Good, he said he couldn't take not seeing his son grow up so He decided to retire so he could be with his boy." I nodded at that, for anyone in the Military family is always the hardest thing, especially when you're gone most days of the year.

"Don't have a wife or rug rats of your own?" I asked.

"Please, I'm too man for just 1 woman." He laughed.

"I'll agree to that, single is more fun anyway." For a second my mind trailed off and I thought about the purple haired queen. Shaking my head clear we finally reached the plane, after getting suited up we met with our new red friend, Zaytsev.

"So, you're the Americans I'll be working with?" The Russian asked. He looked like what you'd expect for a Russian guy, his face just looked Russian and his accent was actually pretty good for a Russian, you could still hear a distinct accent but his pronunciations of words were still very good. He had a serious look on his face and seemed like a quite guy who keeps mostly to himself. After all he was a Spetsnaz, most of the things they do in training is considered too savage for any Western Nations.

"Hello Ivan." I greeted.

"I'm actually British." Shield said.

"Ready to kill some Germans?" He asked, as we all got into the plane. Yea, I could tell this was going to be loads of fun. I've never worked with Russia before so I didn't exactly know how it would be like. Even though the Cold War is over there are still some major differences in our cultures, even our Militaries, I was worried about the integrity of the team but I knew that he was a soldier through and through and would obey any order given to him, even from me.

My mind trailed off to a bit of a fear I have and that would be the Religious situation when China and Russia officially arrived. Halkeginia could be described as a State Religious society, meaning the government is highly influenced by the local Religion. NATO is mostly Secular states, meaning it has freedom of Religion and people of all faiths can hold office in the government. Well, many US states still don't allow Atheists office but that's a different topic.

Even though Russia has recently become Secular, China is still follow whats called State Atheism. State Atheism is basically where the government promotes Atheism and Anti-Theism, often times very violently. Such countries include the former USSR, North Korea, China and Cuba. There are more but those are some of the more major ones. In almost every State Atheist country Religion of any kind is illegal, in some cases punishable by death. In China for example Buddhists are being unlawfully attacked, imprisoned and oppressed by the Chinese government. In the 20s the USSR did what was called the "Anti-Religious Campaign" which led to the unlawful murders and arrests of millions, maybe even tens of millions of priests, holy men and Religious citizens.

The reason I bring this up is how a State Religious government and a State Atheist government would react to each other. The Secular beliefs of NATO causes enough friction, to add in the idea that entire countries endorse a Godless society is just poring gasoline on an already large bonfire. Not to mention I fear the kind of Tyranny and oppression such Atheist countries could do to Halkeginia, I already got in my head the thoughts of entire concentration camps for Religious people, it's been done before and could happen again.

"I'm also worried on the relationships of the western and eastern countries. NATO would promote the idea of Religion and the freedom to follow it, China would promote Atheism and Anti-Theism and possibly force and oppress the Religious and Halkeginia would hate both of us for these Godless and Heretic ideas. Honestly, all countries suck balls, whether they're Religious, non-Religious or in between.

Anyway, I'm just a soldier, I'm not payed to think about politics, my job is to kill/save/destroy/guard whatever I'm told.

The ride was somewhat short, 40,000 feet in the air and 5 hours later we were approaching our release point. In that time we all began to talk a bit, Shield was telling horror stories of his training in the SAS selection (But let's face it, Zaytsev wins the award for the worst training horror stories), Zaytsev talked a bit about his proud ancestry and his families legacy of killing the Germans in the second World War, and I just kind of kept quite and listened to the talk. I never was the life of the party.

"Approaching drop zone" The pilot said over the radio. "ETA 12 minutes, get ready." We all hooked up our oxygen masks and stood up from our seats. After a few minutes the rear hatch of the plane opened up and we were all greeted with the pitch black darkness of the midnight sky. I went to the edge of the platform and looked down into a sea of blackness, so thick I swear you could swim in it. With no lights it was impossible to see, even with the 2 large moons. Damn, looking at those never gets old.

After the pilot began counting down we prepared ourselves for a HAHO jump. When he reached 0 we were off, jumping into the black void, making sure to stay close to each other. Making a jump like this was difficult in the day and nearly impossible at night, but we've had more then enough training.

Zaytsev pulled his cord on the shute and came to an almost immediate halt, Shield did the same and also came to a halt. My first seconds in Halkeginia, when my shute failed, were still very fresh in my mind. I was actually very scared right now however I managed to suppress the fear in order to get the job done.

Yanking hard on the cord my parachute came out hard and stopped my decent with a dead halt. We pulled it at around 20,000 feet and now it would be a 45 minute glide to the landing zone. The landing zone is a small valley that will lead up to the villa. We all made sure to stay close to each other so as not to get lost or lose one another and waste valuable time searching the area.

As the 45 minutes past I hit the ground, sliding on the dusty ground and coming to a complete stop. Zaytsev and Shield were right behind me, we all took off our diving suits to reveal simple clothing. Our back packs contained a pistol for each of us and a single cloak, best to blend with the crowd for now before conducting the raid, after all this was a Recon mission first.

**End Chapter 21**


	22. Chapter 22: Operation Northern Garden

A bit of a warning, this next Chapter is somewhat graphic.

**Chapter 22: Operation Northern Garden **

The trip was rather long but uneventful. We reached the villa the Noble was at and aside from a few problems with walking up a big ass mountain there was nothing of note. The Villa was perched on the top of a mountain, some bits of snow dotted the landscape and there was the occasional patch of grass that littered the lower parts of the massive rock. Surrounding the Villa was a village, again surrounded by walls. Many Victorian era Nobles had this configuration, by renting and taxing a civilian population to live on their land they can add more money to their wealth and in some cases even avoid taxes. It's not unheard of to have Nobles have a Villa in nearly every surrounding country so that they can go to which ever Villa has the fewest taxes. It's not unlike businesses back on Earth, some Tycoon sets up a company in a Nation with low Taxes or bank accounts in other countries to avoid taxes.

While I never personally liked taxes (Who does?) I supported them and understood their purpose. After all, the government is a non-funded organization, they can't make money. The jobs to repair the roads, make schools, pay the police force etc, are all paid in taxes. While taxes can get unfair and at time very bad, a well regulated and followed tax system is vital to the success and longevity of a Nation.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. You could really see a difference in Germanian culture and even the race. Many people had a darker complexion, not unlike a Middle eastern race, and their hair colors were more on the red and orange spectrum. Their culture was always considered brutish and barbaric too the rest of Halkeginia and just by looking at the people I could tell why. The women wore more revealing cloths, not on the level of American women but more so than a Victorian like society. The men seemed to have a much larger stature, they had an over all broader body and were at times somewhat tall. You could also see many of them had beards and long wild hair. The contrast to Tristain was rather astounding, it even paralleled the Germanian lands of ancient Rome, almost as if Roman Germania unified from the tribes it was into a traditional Nation.

The technology also seemed rather different, more out dated than in Tristain or Albion. Germania was the most powerful Military force in Halkeginia and their civilian tech shows it. Their houses were more medieval style than how the more culturally advanced places like Tristain. That kind of trend happened a lot, so much focus would be put into a powerful and up to date Military that their cultural side would lack. There are rare cases like ancient Rome, Greece and even the US.

After exploring the area this followed a very interesting pattern, unlike the uniform and straight roads in Earthly cities, these ones were curved and random. Sometime we thought we were going somewhere but ran into a dead end. It's one of the oldest siege defenses in history, if an enemy gets within your walls you have a random street pattern to make invasion difficult. The only way to be effective in an invasion is to memorize the streets before hand, something that was really going to get on my nerves.

After walking in the city for a while we went into a small house, the sign said "Argus Incarus Cathicus" the name of the owner of the building. We knocked 3 times and the resident opened up, he was a lanky guy with glasses and dark blond hair.

"C-c-can I he-help you?" He stuttered, probably some kind of speech impediment.

"How many times was Laffey hit?" I asked the pass phrase to identify if he was our contact, if he couldn't answer he wasn't the guy.

"1,945 t-t-times." He stammered.

"How many people hurt him?" I asked again.

"Z-z-zero" He said.

"Captain Riptide US Navy, joined with SAS Shield and Spetsnaz Zaytsev, are you our Langley contact?" I asked, gripping my pistol in case I got it wrong and had to silence him.

"C-come on in?" He stuttered. We walked in, lowering our cloaked hoods as we did so. He lead us to his basement door and we went down the stairs into a poorly lit room. "Good to see you guys, I've been having a bunch of problem lately, god damn racist Bigotry just because I'm not a fucking Harry Potter fag." Wow, the lanky and stuttering man just changed into an ass hole, I like him already.

"What's with the stuttering?" I asked.

"Ever read a Batman comic?" He asked.

"Seen a movie or two." I said.

"Good story." Shield said.

"Nope." Would you be surprised the Russian said that?

"I created an alter ego no one would suspect, I would be the last person to suspect as a spy or anything since I seem so frail." He said.

"But wouldn't you appearing to be weak make you suspicious because they would know the spy would intentionally be something not suspicious?" Zaytsev asked logically.

"What's the alternative?" I retorted. "Act suspicious to begin with?" The Russian soldier just shrugged.

"Back to the job at hand." Argus interrupted. "I've been studying this guy for weeks." He gave us a hand drawn map of the area. "Normally he has guards posted all over the courtyard, he has no outer walls or defenses other than his own personal force. On average I've counted over 100 personal guards and security personnel, most armed with single bore loaded muskets but about 5 are Mage's. Apparently a Commoner security force is cheaper and much more replaceable " He spat out that last sentence.

"What's preventing a full on assault?" I asked.

"He has a signal fire in the tallest room of his villa, if it's lit he has a deal with a local General who has an Army an hours march from here. If we get held up we could have a few thousand men on our tails. To properly get all the information we can from this villa we need a good 3 hours of searching the area, otherwise it would just be a simple job." He said.

"Makes sense." I said. "How do we get to the tower? Is it heavily guarded?" I asked.

"Yes, but we should be able to get in if we can get ourselves some disguises. We would need to be disguised as some guards to get close but even then they have pass codes to prevent something like that." That was a bit strange.

"A bit extensive for a Noble." Shield said.

"If he is working with some kind of Nazi group it makes sense." I nodded.

"Is there anything on the targets habits, things he likes to do etc?" I asked.

"The target is a sadist." Argus spit.

"How so?" I asked.

"He has an S&M Fetish but instead of being a bit of kinky romance he kidnaps young Commoner girls and tortures them in unimaginable ways. I've even managed to smuggle some of the girls out of his dungeons but he has a practical harem down there." That was sick.

"Doesn't Germania have law against that?" I asked.

"Germania is more brutal in how they treat Commoners, doesn't matter if he tortures them, there is no official law against it." This just became rather personal.

"How do you suggest we get the pass code?" I asked.

"I have a contact within his ranks, every week the pass codes change so it will be changing today. You need to meet up with my contact and get the information out of her." Argus said.

"What's the contacts name?" The Russian asked.

"Her call sign is Jade, she's easy enough to spot." Argus said. "We usually meet under the bridge outside of town in midnight, be very careful, if we get spotted now this OP is over before it starts." We all saluted and waited until midnight.

I was actually very excited about this job, more so than normal. Something about punishing a sadist like that always makes me feel good. Wow, that sounded much dirtier than I intended. Either way, I was happy that today justice will be done. I slowly cleaned my Sig Sauer P229 (A more compact version of the P226), being sure to wipe down ever single inch of it. While the Sigs are praised for their amazing reliability, even when dirty, it's still good to make sure there's no gunk in the mechanism. After all, 1 jam could cost you big time, in most cases your life.

Shield had a Glock 33, a subcompact Glock that fires a .357. My own Sig fires the .357 as well but his Glock is a bit smaller than mine, adding to the conceal ability.

Ivan over there had a Makarov pistol that fires the 9X18MM, it's also compact and has been in the Russian Army for decades. It's more or less the Russian version of the Colt 1911, a classic and sexy gun. Since all we had were pistols at the moment it's best not to engage in any kind of fighting just yet, if we get cornered by 10 guys with muskets than that's it for us even with the horrible accuracy.

As we neared midnight we began to leave the house one at a time. First Argus left, then Zaytsev, Shield and lastly me in 10 minute intervals. This is to hopefully trip up any kind of surveillance and reduce suspicion. 4 guys up and about in the middle of the night together? Not exactly the most subtle way to move around. Before leaving we all made sure to memorize the street patterns so that we would meet at the spot without getting lost, especially in this maze like town. A few times I nearly got lost but quickly picked up the trail again before I finally saw the bridge.

As I got down under it I saw the 3 men and a guard that was supposed to be the contact. The guard had a slight limp in his leg but other than that I couldn't see his face. Argus nodded to the guard who began to explain the layout.

"The inner wall that surrounds the Villa is heavily guarded, there is always a guard ever 10 Meters on the wall itself and every gate has at least 5 guards." That voice sounded familiar. "The guards are always to be grouped together so cornering a few in an alley may prove difficult and risky, the uniforms are kept under constant lock and key and nearly impossible to get to." The woman said. Casually and without thinking I walked up to the guard and removed his... or should I say her helmet.

"Well, the more things change the more they stay the same." I said out loud. It was Fouquet, the thief who tried to kill me nearly a year ago.

"Riptide, a pleasure." She said with a bit of anger in her eyes.

"So, still working for Albion, but this time you have a new Master tugging your leash." I pointed out ironically.

"After the fall of Albion I was given a choice by your government. Work for them or be sent to prison. Naturally I chose what limited freedom I could get." The green haired bitch said.

"You two know each other?" Zaytsev asked.

"She originally worked for the Albion nobility before the invasion. Actually last I heard you were locked away in Tristain, sentenced to death. How the hell did you escape?" I asked. She smiled slightly at first but frowned after briefly remembering something.

"Albion at the time had a lot of influence throughout Halkeginia. Until you took it over of course. Since then remnants of the old government have been trying to reclaim it with little success." She said.

"She's right, we've had a lot of coup attempts from remnant spies in the past year. I tell you though they are rookies. They're still under the old style of spying and can be spotted a mile away." Argus said. "Fouquet has been invaluable in rounding them up." I could tell Fouquet took no pride in it.

"Did you have any information on the shadow organization that Albion had been working with?" I asked. Argus answered for the young thief.

"We've interrogated her every way in the book, she's just a pawn, nothing more. They don't tell much at her pay grade." Fouquet's cheeks turned slightly red with anger at being referred to as a pawn.

"How is she going to get us the uniforms?" Shield asked.

"I have my ways." Fouquet moved he body sensually, which was kind of hard to take seriously with the heavy armor she wore. "I've got a date with a guard later tonight, I'll get him alone and you can pounce him."

"Why would he wear his armor on a date?" Zaytsev asked logically.

"Simple, I told him I have a thing for men in uniform. It would be no problem." Fouquet smiled slightly at the idea of taking a man down a few notches.

"Alright, once we get the uniform Riptide will take out the signal tower. After that we will call in the Rangers and be done with this hell hole." I nodded my head. "He will also provide Recon in the area. Try to find the women that have been kidnapped."

"Fouquet, what's the pass code?" I asked the green haired spy.

"They will ask you "When do the bells toll" and you reply ""Brigade"" I nodded and we began to walk to the area to get the guard.

We kept a low profile, staying apart so as to look like we have no affiliation with each other. Fouquet got changed into a more revealing outfit, a low cut red dress with a skirt that went below her knees and parted on the side. It actually complimented her green hair very nicely, I even jokingly thought about it as a Christmas theme.

The guard that we had to jump approached her, she went up to him and began to flirt with him. She acted like a woman in love, fawning over his strong muscles and complimenting his strength, saying things like how brave he is to be a guard. As a man let me tell you, having a woman be so amazed with your strength is one of the best feelings in the world. It gave you a feeling of power and strength, I actually began to feel slightly bad for the poor guy.

With a single move I went up behind him and got him in a choke hold. Within a few seconds the man was out cold. I cut off the arteries in the side of the neck, without blood pumping through them your out cold in seconds, possibly dead in 15 seconds. I wanted to avoid killing if I could, I never killed for sport and if everything goes well then we should be gone by morning.

I quickly dawned the uniform and muttered a few curses at how uncomfortable it was and how the armor made it heavy. Granted I'm used to heavy gear but I wasn't normally covered in steel. After tightening some buckles and straps I nodded to Fouquet and the rest of my American/British/Russian comrades. Lastly Argus gave me a bag filled with 3 claymores and 4 M27 frag grenades, just in case.

They left the area to prepare for the assault, once I gave the signal, which was a thumbs up from the top of the signal tower (Which they will use night vision optics to see me), they will send word to the Rangers who are located just outside the village borders, ready to pounce at any time. Normally during warfare having a battle at night is a bad idea. You can't tell enemy from friend and you completely eliminate the effectiveness of your military. At least, before a few Nazi geniuses invented night vision optics to allow for a Military to effectively fight in the dark. Given the enemy we're searching for I'm finding this whole situation some what ironic. Since these people have no knowledge of night vision capabilities almost everyone is asleep. After all, who in their right mind would attack at night? Not only does this go against logical thinking it also goes against their code of honor. I tell you, exploiting these peoples honor system is so easy it's almost laughable.

I reached the gate of the Villa, only 1 guard was posted. My German was not the best but I could pass for a local with some speech problems. He asked me the question Fouquet told me and i answered with the correct response. He nodded and allowed me entrance.

Taped to my hip is a small transmitter. We have a drone in the air watching my every move, the transmitter tracks my position in real time allowing for me to map out the area. When I reach position Alpha, which is the Harem Dungeon I will press a small button on the transmitter. This will tell the attacking force the exact route to the dungeon so as not to waste valuable time.

I asked around a bit and made my way to the entrance. I opened the wooden door and descended down a dark and dank cellar, a spiral stair way taking me down at least 2 stories. I was greeted by a sickening sight. Young girls, from ages 10 to 25 were all trapped in small cells. Some of the older girls were without clothes and had signs of severe whipping, flogging and lacerations located all over their bodies. Large purple bruises covered parts of their bodies and many had dried tear marks on their cheeks.

I kept my composure, trying not to show any sign of my distress. I have to play the part of the uncaring guard for now. I pressed the button on the transmitter and smiled on the inside, knowing that these bastards will pay for what they've done.

Turning around and leaving the terrible area I went back the way I came. Now all I had to do is take out the signal fire and the invasion will be ready. Again asking for directions and having to answer the pass code a few more times I climbed my way up the spiral stairs that led to the tower. It went up 4 stories, which was pretty high for old style buildings and examined the area. There was only 1 guard, who apparently fell a sleep in his chair. This was going to be easy. Getting behind him I put him in a choke hold and just as he woke up he slumped back down into a slumber seconds later.

Once I give the thumbs up my next job will be to hold the tower, to make sure no one else can come up here and light the tower. I placed the claymores I got early on the stair way to make getting up here harder. I took out all my pistol mags and set them next to me, that way I don't have to fumble with getting them out of my pockets. When your job is to hold an area it's always a good idea to take out all your mags so you have easy access to them. Lastly I put the grenades next to them and got ready. Lifting my hand over the small rock wall I gave a thumbs up.

Within minutes I heard the sound of helicopters making their way to the village. It had the distinct sound of MH-6 Little Bird helicopters. They're small, good for transporting a few men and very hard targets to hit. They have very good firepower and are ideal for small operations. Choppers like the MH-60 Black Hawk, while offer good armor and carries more men and firepower, are at a disadvantage with their size. They're loud, easy to spot and easy to shoot down. After all, it's not the size that counts, it's how you use it.

There were 3 Choppers, aside from the pilots it can hold up to six men per chopper. One however had no passengers just in case me and my team need Ex-fil (Ex-filtration). That's a total of 12 Rangers coming in. The tactic was simple but effective, 1 team would land outside of the gate while the other goes inside. You can separate the guards forces while at the same time stay in close proximity with your allies. The Choppers came in for a landing, the men on the sides of the choppers opened fire and began cutting down anyone in their way. The guards had no chance and could not even shoulder their gun to fire. Those that did manage to fire their muskets missed by a lot, completely ineffective without of the strict and orderly volley formations.

A loud explosion sounded shortly after landing, one of my claymores detonated, a clear sign of men trying to enter the tower. Another one detonated, this time close enough to hear the blood curdling screams of whatever poor bastard stepped near it. I aimed them low to hit the shins, planning to wound not kill. Not because of some misplaced humanitarian ethics but because of simple tactics. There are now at least 2 or more men wounded but alive. The remaining men must now waste man power to help their injured comrade. It's a trick SOF learned in the Vietnam war. Injure one man and you effectively take 2 men out of the fight. A controversial but effective tactic.

The last Claymore, located at the top of the stairs went off, taking out another guys legs. He fell back and rolled down the steps, the clanking of metal told me he tripped some of his own men on the way down. Taking out a Frag grenade I pulled the pin and tossed it. The Grenade bounced down the stairs and exploded some ways down. The enclosed stone corridor amplified the shock wave created and traveled through the spiral stair case like water through a hose. Most men were dead before they could even scream.

I repeated the same thing as i heard more men come up and again more men were killed. Then it grew quiet. I didn't know if I killed everyone, they were to afraid to come back up or if the piled bodies made advancing impossible. Either way no one approached the door again.

A few minutes later I heard more voices and the sounds of leather boots make their way up the stairs. I didn't hear any metal clanking so odds are it could be my own men, they were briefed that I would be up here.

"New York!" A man yelled from down the stairs.

"L.A!" I yelled back, knowing now that it was a friendly. Walking in was none other than SGT. Robert Sledge, my good friend.

"How you doing good buddy." We took each other's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Good, glad to see a couple of guys with muskets isn't too tough for the 75TH. I was almost afraid I would have to come help you." We chuckled slightly. "Did you find the girls?" I asked my friend.

"Yea, they're fine. A bit traumatized probably but they will live. Even some of the badly hurt ones will make a full physical recovery with the right medical treatment." Rob said.

"Good to hear, you got a good gun on you by any chance?" I asked. He handed me his stock-less single fire, pump action M870 12 Gauge Shotgun. It had a 7 round tube and fired Buck shot for maximum efficiency. Pocketing a few extra shells I followed him back down the stair way. I was greeted by a terrible sight, the walls were covered in fresh and slick blood, making walking difficult because of how slippery it made the ground. Mutilated corpses were all around me, limbs were everywhere and their faces were torn open, bits of brain matter littered the floor. Most of the time I found myself stepping on some brain matter or exposed organ because they covered nearly every inch of the stair way.

I noticed that, as subtle as it was, Rob was just as repulsed as I was. When you have men trying to kill you, you never think about the after math. The scene that you would be greeted with after the smoke has cleared. As hardened as I was this kind of thing still made me want to vomit.

Pushing these thoughts aside I continued down until we reached the main courtyard. You have to maintain complete focus in battle, throw up after the fight, not during, otherwise you'll literally be puking up a lung.

The young girls were all in the courtyard as well, all clothed with whatever they could find, sheets, rags anything. The Rangers formed a protective circle around them and had the girls stay low so the Rangers could use their own bodies as cover. There were at least 50 girls, some as young as 8, others never reaching over 25. Rob pulled out his radio and ordered a 4TH helicopter to come to the area. The 4TH Helicopter was a Boeing CH-47 Chinook Helicopter. Once the area was cleared it's safe to bring in the big guys. The Chinook can hold up to 53 people, kind of pushing the standards but without the 60 pound per person weight of a soldier, the light weight girls would be easy to transport.

Given that these girls had the knowledge of a medieval person it's no surprise they were reluctant to enter the Helicopter. A little girl, probably 8 or 9 grabbed onto my leg and held it tightly. Her long dirtied nails gripped the cloth of my pants until her tiny knuckles turned white. My first instinct was to push her off but I thought of something better. I bent down and put my hand on her tiny shoulder. Fresh tears fell from her eyes and she looked at me with a bit of fear but mostly understanding. Despite the guard uniform, I could tell that she somehow knew I was a good guy. I motioned my head towards the Chopper and she went in without another word. The rest of the girls followed the little one and soon the bird was in the air and heading back to Albion. Human resources would take over from there and help the girls to establish a better life for themselves. Not only would they be treated physically but they would also receive psychiatric help.

Rob gave out the order and began to assault the house, gathering intelligence and capture the Noble that lives here. I turned my head and saw my team in the Little Bird waiting for me to get on. My job here was done, the Rangers would handle the rest and leave the interrogation and information digging to us when we got back home. I got into the Bird and we made our way back to Albion.

**End Chapter 22**

Sorry for the long wait. Been kind of busy lately and had a bit of writers block. I'll try to get more Chapters up quicker.


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